Urban Vows

It's Been a While

2012-01-20T06:02:00.000-08:00

Wow...my last post was in July!? There's an explanation...I promise.

So this past summer I vowed that I had booked my last wedding ever. Meg and Adam, the coolest couple on earth and with a little bonus item, baby Keenan. Right away I knew that these were the people I would like to be sent out of business with.

The past year has been one of a bit of self discovery. When asked by my counselor "at what point did you find it impossible to relax?" a little red flag went up in my head. I knew I had been stressed and pushed beyond my limits. There are not a lot of people that can do school, be a mom, a girlfriend, a friend, a daughter, a sister, a full-time employee, a volunteer and business owner and still say they have a lot of "me" time. So in full on Brittany fashion, I threw my hands up and said "I surrender, no more wedding planning". This, despite absolutely no one thinking this was a good idea. They know how much I love weddings. The dresses, the colours, the fabrics, the lighting, the food, the drink and most of all, the beautiful people I have been blessed to work with.

I announced my retirement from the industry on September 30, 2011 (retiring at the age of 27 sounds so good!). Exactly two weeks later I was talked out of it by next up and coming super wicked couple, Geeta and Trevor. I just couldn't say no, which means there's still a part of me that knows I have something worth fighting for in the industry. Whether I do one wedding or twenty a year, I know I will have to have my finger on the pulse of event and wedding management for the rest of my life.

As for that whole "me" time thing...it might not happen any time soon, as we found out on Friday, July 29th that we are expecting our second little girl this coming March, we are so excited! And yes...ecstatic that I will have another daughter who will allow me to one day, plan her wedding.

Stay tuned for a post on Meg and Adam's beautiful October wedding!

Turning Six

2011-07-25T19:33:00.000-07:00

Like my previous post, I obviously love a good theme party, and when it's for my own munchkin I usually go all out! I get a lot of inspiration from the internet and one of my favorite blogs is Hostess with the Mostess. I saw a Rainbows and Unicorns party featured on her site a few months ago and knew I needed to subtly suggest this theme to my little tomboy daughter, Brookie. She wants big red trucks, has aspirations to be like her daddy and play goalie in hockey and last year asked for an Iron Man mask, so I thought it might be a miss. I was wrong. Apparently, the pictures sold her on the idea and she was all for it! Hallelujah!

I must say, a rainbows and unicorns theme is so simple and I love the old fashioned birthday party feel to it. No trademarked cartoons and no birthday kit in a box here, just a lot of pink, blue and purple!

The invitations I ordered through PrintYourHeartOut on etsy, if you follow this blog, you know I am a fan. The seller charges a small price, they design you a custom invitation in less than an hour and send you the file. You take the file to a print company and voila! Beautiful invitations! Now, you will see we did not know how to make donations for the Save a Unicorn foundation as they never returned our calls, but a group close to our hearts in this family is the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society and Brookie asked for donations in lieu of gifts for them. In turn, Loretta from AARCS came in, brought some puppies and taught the importance of "Adopt, Don't Shop!". The kids loved it and everyone felt good about it at the end of the day. Pretty proud of my little peanut for that.

The cake. Oh the cake. Now, I only have one round pan, so that was actually the main challenge here, as this cake had to be started two days ahead of time. People inquired how I got the colours so vivid, I used Wilton Gel colouring and used enough of it, but not so much it changed any flavor to the cake. I also made candy coated pretzels by just drizzling them with candy melts in pretty colours. No one ate them, maybe they looked TOO pretty. I also made unicorn horns from sugar cones and candy melts and made treat bags with cotton candy and candy necklaces. These kids' dentists have me on their hit list.

For party hats, the kids wore horns, and maybe I should have announced that humancorns should not charge at one another while wearing such fancy hats. No good comes of it. These were made with a few choice words the night before - who KNEW that making a horn would be so difficult?!

I made Brookie a custom shirt after shopping in every store possible for a unicorn shirt by painting a pick shirt with fabric glue and using fabric adhesive to attach little rhinestones.

On HWTM they said the theme of the party revolved around these gorgeous helium inflated balloons and when I see something I must have I do not give up. Apparently though, Canada Post felt like giving up for a few weeks to go on strike right before her birthday and messed up my plans of ordering these online, so I sent out a "HELP - SEEKING UNICORN BALLOONS" plea on my Buy & Sell at work and voila! Sure, I had to drive across town, place BALLOONS on hold, spend $20 on two balloons and another $15 on helium, but they are so pretty!

The candy buffet this year needed to be cut in about 1/3 from last year after it saw me buying every red and purple candy in the city. There was plenty enough to get a group of 6 and 7 year olds wired though, don't you worry! For the lollipop displays, we turned some woven baskets over and placed some faux grass over top, both purchased from the miracle store, Dollarama and these worked great as the lollipops stuck nicely into the little holes in the basket.

All in all, Brookie said she had a wonderful birthday. That's good, because next year we're going camping!

Cirque du Manique

2011-07-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

Designer Marisna King and her models

The talented chef squadron at Sociale

The Bearded Lady

Lizard Queen!

April in her cupcake dress - cupcakes donated by The Little Cupcake Shoppe in McKenzie Towne

Beautiful florals by Sarah Mayerson at Flora

The name of my company implies that I am a one trick pony. Weddings only. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth! While I went into weddings as they are my passion, everything with the word wedding makes my heart flutter, but, I find all other events a wee bit less stressful and a lot more fun. This is because weddings are dealing with emotions, and relationships. People get flustered and act like they normally do not. This past spring, I partnered up with Marsina of MaNoKiN Design and Danielle of Death by Shoe and The Fancy Drifter and put on one hell of a fashion show.

How much fun is it to let loose and be able to hire fortune tellers and freak shows? SO MUCH FUN! In the wedding world this just would not fly, but my creativity had no restrictions on this event and it was so much fun to see it come to life.

Marsina King is the designer of this line and I can truly say these are clothes you and I would all wear, which is what I love. Fashion is one thing, but when it's completely unpractical, I lose interest. The clothes are young and sexy and can be mixed and matched and transition from day wear at the office into nighttime wear easily.

Sociale was a perfect venue for this event. It's low ceilings and classy decor attracted a perfect crowd and created a dark and intimate atmosphere. Tasty tapas was continually served and the drink special was a fluffy cotton candy martini. Swag backs were given to each guest and the smell of fresh popcorn emanated from the antique popcorn machine. People were delighted to see the cupcakes from The Little Cupcake Shoppe being served on a living table, and gorgeous arrangements from Sarah Mayerson's new shop, Flora really did add a finishing touch to the decor.

The theme of the night was dark circus and I would say this was highlighted by the opening act of Dana Kolba (Josh's talented little cousin, so proud of her!), being pushed in a century-old wheelchair while sporting long black eyelash extensions. Visions of Samara from The Ring could describe this in a nutshell.

Following Dana were two incredible zombie dancers, Brittany and Hung. They brought the energy up to open the stage for the models, some of which were dressed as freakshows. When was the last time you saw a bearded lady or a lizard queen in a fashion show?
Brittany and Hung bust a zombie move!

Gorgeous designs by MaNoKiN

This show was a labor of love for all involved, and so many people had a part in pulling it off. Even handsome boyfriend Josh got involved with this one and was the creator of the stunning posters (I keep telling him graphic arts are his calling what do you say!?).

Thank you to the team of entertainers, models, make up artists, hair dressers, all the staff at Sociale, our sponsors from The Little Cupcake Shoppe, Peel Salon & Spa, Flora, Eric Epie Photography and Pumped! Shoes and Other Yummy Things - you all were so wonderful to work with and we could not have done this without you!

Danielle from The Fancy Drifter and I

Stars and Sparkles - Renee & Tyler - April 30, 2011

2011-07-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

Good grief where has time gone? It's mid-summer in Calgary and I am only now blogging about Renee and Tyler's gorgeous spring wedding, for shame!

I met Tyler and Renee last summer in Starbucks and instantly enjoyed their personalities, how they complimented one another. Renee had really great ideas for their wedding, something unique and to my excitement, sparkley! She showed me a few images of where she wanted to go with colours and theme and they were of stars and mixed metallics, which I had a feeling was going to be big in 2011. Finally, a girl doesn't have to choose between gold and silver!

A glittery collage of stars was the basis of this wedding, and saw my basement turned from a grey drab concrete to a kingdom of Rose Quartz, Copper, Crystal, Yellow Gold and Sterling metallic sparkles! Even my dogs sported the glitter look for a while. Did you know you can use WD-40 to remove spray adhesive from your hands? True story! *disclaimer: if your skin melts off, I am in no way liable* Renee and Tyler's ceremony was held at Century Hall in Cranston, which was a perfect compliment to the dark hardwood and modern feel of Siraia, and very close proximity (ten minute drive). I would vote this as one of Calgary's more upscale community centers and for the simple effect that Renee and Tyler seeked, it was perfect. Renee and Tyler chose one of my favorite venues for their reception in Calgary, Siraia restaurant at Sirocco golf club. I have done several weddings out there now and each one has a completely different feel to it, as I have done summer, fall and spring receptions and the valley the room overlooks is beautiful in every season.

For floral arrangements, I was so happy to be able to re-use centerpieces from Ali and Graham's wedding last June, as seen here:

And they had a whole different appearance at Renee and Tyler's wedding, you wouldn't even know they were the same base! This saved the couple a lot of money as the cost was for the flowers only! Check out their spring make-over:
Thank you to Renee and Tyler for all your input into your big day and placing such trust in me for one of the biggest events in your lives, it was so great to see it all come together! And thank you to Chelsea from Shutterbird for her talent in capturing the gorgeous images, you never fail to amaze me!

Update on Urban

2011-06-20T06:33:00.000-07:00

So as it appears, I have either lost complete interest in blogging - or I have been so busy that blogging has fallen low on my priority list. I ensure you it is the second option. Life has been absolutely crazy busy the past month. I am a person that does beyond weddings, even though I may not chat about it here, so I will fill you in on all the fun happening the past month!

The end of May I helped plan and organize, with the help of three other lovely ladies, a beautiful shower for one of my best friends, Ashley. It is so much fun planning for something so exciting and I think the day turned out perfectly, and the beautiful mommy-to-be was glowing. We picked a few main colours, dark purple and buttermilk yellow to go along with the baby girls nursery colours.

I am a volunteer event coordinator with a local dog rescue, AARCS and spent the past 5 months planning their first ever golf tournament with fellow AARCS wonder woman, Paula. It was my first time doing a not-for-profit event and was a lot more work than I initially thought it would be, but at the end of the day (being the end of the tournament day, June 6th) it was very successful. Everyone had a great time, the rain stayed away and the dogs got some much needed funding for medical bills.

The following weekend, for the second time, I was riding in the Rona MS Bike Tour. This year was very challenging, with torrential rains and gusting winds, the already difficult 180km "uphill, both ways" bike ride was not only physically but mentally very hard. I rode with a team of 23 from my work and we raised over $40,000! So, again, a lot of work but for a wonderful cause!

This coming weekend has been one in the works for months as well. I absolutely cannot express how thrilled I am that this will be my biggest and most exciting event I have been a part of. Cirque du Manique is a dark, circus themed fashion show with surprises around every corner. Portions of ticket sales are benefiting the Red Cross in aid for the Tsunami ravaged country of Japan. We have a live local singer, Dana Kolba (her music can be heard here), dancers from Pulse Studio, a real live fortune teller, old-school circus freak show living models, carnival goodies, tapas delights and cotton candy filled boozy delights. There are still limited tickets available so get them while you can!

And just when you think that was the wind-down for all of my events, the most important yearly holiday is coming up July 3rd, and that would be Brookie's 6th birthday. One thing she'll never have to worry about is having a boring birthday, this years theme? Unicorns.

Threads, Thrills and Theatrics

2011-05-06T07:04:00.000-07:00

Hello my lovlies!

Happy Friday (thank goodness!).

So as you have gathered, most of what I do is wedding-related but I am also an avid event planner. Right now, I have several things on the go, one of them being Cirque du Manique. I cannot say in words how excited I am to be collaborating with Marsina King from Manokin Design and Danielle Mossfeldt from Death by Shoe. These lovely ladies are good friends and fellow geniuses (ha ha, what, you didn't know I was a genius!?). We have been working night and day on bringing you the best show we could possibly put together.

A portion of proceeds go to Red Cross Japanese Tsunami Relief, you will be treated to tapas, a signature cocktail, cupcakes, carnival goodies, fortune telling, living statue freak shows, live singing and dancing, a swag bag and of course, a fabulous fashion show. We are hosting this spectacular evening at Sociale Bar & Grill in the heart of Downtown Calgary, June 25th.

A huge thank you to our beautiful and accommodating venue, Sociale, Shutterbird Photography, Peel Salon & Spa, The Little Cupcake Shoppe and Pumped! Shoes and Other Yummy Things for all your hard work and effort in making this night a success. We cannot wait to see everyone out for this night of Threads, Thrills and Theatrics!

Buy your tickets now as there are a limited number of tickets!

Lovely Lacey Kate

2011-04-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, so by now you are most likely feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the attention on the Royal Wedding, but what do you expect? In a world where the news is cluttered every night by murders, natural disasters and other horrific headlines, it is nice to see something so beautiful plastered all over websites and newspapers.

I have counted down the days until the royal nuptials. Ever since I was a little girl I thought Prince William was quite the dreamboat, and ever since he introduced his lovely Kate to the world I have be enthralled by her impeccable fashion choices, bright personality and charming ways.

When I saw Kate for the first time (at 3:45 in the morning, yawn!), I told my daughter "look at her, she is the perfect princess, so beautiful." And she was. She wore exactly what I envisioned she would and she was the epitome of class, grace and elegance. In fact - there have been many comparisons to Grace Kelly, and what a role model for beauty she is!

Sleeves and lace are nothing new, but the popular strapless, mermaid style has really been on top for years and I am so happy that this may turn a leaf in bridal fashion. Another way to have two looks in one, is to have a wedding cap or bolero with lace sleeves - and then for the reception you can still go strapless if you can't decide between the two looks! If you are wanting something Kate-inspired, check out just a few of the stunning options you have to pick from:

Manuel Mota "Opera"

Romona Keveza "L186"

Maggie Sottero

Sassi Holford "Chloe"

Monique Lhuillier

Claire Pettibone "Sky Between the Branches"

Valentino Sposa "Euradice"

Congratulations to Will and Kate on a beautiful wedding and the happily ever after everyone dreams of!

Guess The Dress - A CONTEST!

2011-04-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

Hello my lovelies!

I have some very exciting news! The ladies of Ruby Woo and I are collaborating on a very fun contest. We have decided to challenge our readers to guess the style of gown Kate Middleton will wear on her big day.

To enter the contest, you must:

1) "like" Ruby Woo and Urban Vows on Facebook
2) Post a comment below and include a link of any dress you can find on the internet that will resemble Kate's dress. That's it!

On May 1st, Ruby Woo will be hosting "Ruby Woo for Japan Tea Party" where the winner of this contest will be announced. It runs from 1pm-4pm at the Art Gallery of Calgary (117-8th Avenue SW)and is a free event.

Oh right...what do you win? $500 towards your Ruby Woo dream dress as well as shipping within Alberta! Start Googling my lovely bride-to-be's! Good luck!

Rules: No restrictions on where you live, but buyer will be responsible for shipping outside of Alberta. Contest closes noon on Thursday, April 28th. Urban Vows and Ruby Woo will decide a winner based on Kate Middleton's wedding day attire and who comes closest to guessing the actual dress. Winner will make arrangements through Ruby Woo for ordering, measurements and designing the dress. Winner will be announced at the May 1st event, but winner does not have to be in attendance to win. Winner will be contacted via email. Contestants do not have to be engaged or getting married, if winner does not want a wedding dress, they can put $500 towards another dress of their liking - or can transfer the $500 credit to a friend who is getting married (you can use this as their wedding gift even!). Certificate expires one year from contest end date (May 1st, 2012). Good luck!

Photographer: Rob McKay

Model: Luressa Diehl

Make Up Artist: Polly Shum

Hair Stylist: Savin Lucy Pearson

Take Five with Ruby Woo

2011-04-12T19:02:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of chatting with the lovely Teang Tang, one of the two partners that own Ruby Woo, a whole new face in the bridal gown game. We met at Fashion Central's DeVille, she treated me to a Chai Latte and we got down to business...fun, pretty, silky white business.

Ruby Woo is an extremely exciting concept. As you may assume, I am a big fan of Say Yes to the Dress, and one of the most voiced complaints is "I like the top of this one, and the bottom of this one". Well, in flies Ruby Woo to the rescue! They custom make intricate, ornate and couture gowns, made to the specifications of each and every bride, so it fits your body, budget and personality to a T.

When I say budget, how does $1000 flat sound? I know for a fact, to buy off the rack in Calgary you are usually looking at at least that amount, plus many more hard earned dollars on tailoring. Ridiculous right? These dresses are so gorgeous and they will make anything - bring them a picture of the dresses you like and in a few months, it's all yours!

I decided to do a fun little interview with Teang about her company and the wedding dress business.

B: "Teang, who in the world of wedding designers would you say inspires you most?"
T: "Marchesa, we love Marchesa, hands down our number one favourite designer. Her pieces really accentuate the female form. The cut, is impeccable! For wedding dresses specifically we love Pnina Tornai, her pieces are wild and fun."

B: "What trends are you seeing for 2011/2012 brides?"
T: "We're seeing a lot of ballgowns, one shoulder and shorter dresses on the runway I personally love the shorter wedding dresses...they are fun and playful!

B: "If you could dress any of the celebrity for her wedding, who would it be?"
T: "Kate Middleton - Once pictures of her dress are released to the public, we'll be receiving requests for "princess-inspired" creations. Her dress will be popular in upcoming weddings."

B: "Okay, that rolls into my next question, what are your predictions on Kate's dress, it's the talk of the town what style she'll be wearing".
T: "I think she'll be in something form fitting, elaborate, a super long train...think Marchesa India dress."

B: "What makes a Ruby Woo dress so special?"
T: "It's made to fit every inch of your body, we make you look phenomenal! The inspiration behind our company is that little girl inside of you that imagines her wedding day. That little girl has this vivid image of a dream dress in her head but doesn't quite know how she's going to get her hands on it - Ruby Woo brings that little girls imagination to life".

What a great idea, and a seemingly simple solution. I have high hopes for Teang and her partner Ivy Su. With everyone's busy lives and work schedules, blocking off hours of time for shopping and fittings sometimes isn't practical or possible. Ruby Woo to the rescue!

Stay tuned - Monday, April 18th, we'll be announcing a contest that will earn you a chance to win the wedding dress of your dreams from Ruby Woo!

Photo Credits:
Dresses: Ruby Woo Wedding Couture Inc.
Model: Xia Martens
Photography: Rob McKay
Makeup: Polly Shum
Hair: Lucy Pearson
Shoes: Pumped Shoes

These are a Few of My Favorite Things!

2011-03-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

When I like something, I really like it and the term "dog with a bone" comes to mind. I don't let things go easily and I don't forget about something when it's peaked my interest. I have been like that my whole life. I see a coat in a window display that I fancy, I dream about it, draw about it and when someone's talking to me I imagine "they'd look so much better talking to me right now if they were wearing that magnificent jacket". So with that said, here are a few of my favorite things!

1) My favorite wedding video and videographer:

Rainbows from Confetti on Vimeo.

Not a joke, I have watched Confetti Film's "Rainbow's" video a few too many times, I could probably rehearse the vows. I adore the couple, perfect style, perfect venue and the talent behind the camera is undeniably the best I have seen. It is stunning, I kind of can't handle it.

2) My favorite wedding dress designer:

Claire Pettibone - her dresses are so unique, so intricate and beautiful. The first time I saw her "Kristene" dress I felt the need to do a thousand squats to ensure my behind will look good in that hot little number. Did you notice the train? It's in the shape of a heart, lovely!

"Sky Between the Branches"

"Kristene"

"Cloisonne"

"Chantilly"

3)My favorite stationary: This one was hard - as couples get more and more creative, I am seeing lots of superb, out-of-the-box wedding stationary suites handcrafted by themselves. If you're not one to craft, I adore the Little Bit of Heart website for vintage and whimsical stationary.

4) My favorite hair? Oh this is a TOUGH one. First of all, I am a hair girl, my hair looks different almost every day so I don't really have a signature look. I do naturally gravitate towards pictures of blonde, messier styles, as that's what I would see myself in. Now, this one was featured on a fellow wedding site the other day and I fell in love with it. I do often sport a braid in my hair somewhere, but had never thought of just doing this one big magical braid across the back. So pretty! And this would work with all sorts of hair colours, types as well as accessories and veils.

5) Favorite bridesmaid dresses: Okay, I am cheating, just a little bit. I cannot pick just one from this site, so I am going to pick a line of bridesmaid dresses that I would shriek from happiness to be able to wear. BHLDN is Anthropologie's new bridal line and it is gorgeous! Unique, vintage, and definitely wearable again, your girls won't mind being in one of these!

"Savoy" $220

"Coral and Sand Tube" $300

"Starburst Pleated Shift" $200

For Japan With Love

2011-03-17T13:07:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I will be joining my fellow bloggers in a day of silence to remember those victims in Japan who have lost everything in this past weeks unimaginable tragedies. Our hearts are with you. Please donate what you can and spend time with those you love for those who cannot.

Luck of The Irish

2011-03-17T06:48:00.000-07:00

Picking a lucky wedding day is pretty much the ONLY reason I would personally ever have a St. Patrick's Day wedding, and even that would never be enough to convince me. I like different, but I am not a fan of using your wedding day to stock up on four leaf clover garland at the dollar store and make a mockery of such an important life event. This being said - I know there are people who do choose holidays for their wedding, and this is okay too, but having the holiday as an accent and not front and centre is the key to pulling this one off.

I have taken this opportunity to show you some beautiful pieces to accent a green wedding, but maybe why you wouldn't want to have an all green wedding day. I don't know, I am not a fan of the palette below, but rather pieces within it. The Vera Wang wedding gown in the top left corner? Wow. I love Vera Wang and as soon as I saw this hot little number, I knew she must be the mastermind behind it. I love her whimsical, fluffy tulle dresses, and that she makes hers in a few different shades, light green, light peach. I will never give up my white or ivory dress, but absolutely adore seeing them on brides. So fun!

Whatever you choose, just make sure your wedding day is true to yourself, timeless and something you know you'll look back on in fifty years and still think it was the most beautiful day of your life.

Say yes to the...Shoe?

2011-03-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

Hello all my lovely lovers - I asked a good friend of mine, Danielle of Death by Shoe to guest blog on my site. As one of my favorite bloggers and also one of my every-so-often subjects (you may recognize her from a few of my posts!) there's no one I would rather have here as a guest.

Enjoy, and make sure to follow her quirky and cute antics on her
blog Death By Shoe.

When it came to picking out my wedding day ensemble I must admit, I spent more time choosing my shoes than I did my dress. The way I see it, a wedding shoe is something you can wear over and over again to re-live that special day and it’s a great way for a bride to showcase her personality.

In my case I decided to go with a blue satin Louboutin as my something blue. To this day I still get butterflies when I look at them and only wear them on very special occasions.

(Photo by Shutterbird Photography)

For all you brides out there my wedding day shoe advice would be to go with something that truly mirrors your personality. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the most expensive shoe on the block but it should be something you love, feel comfortable in, and want to wear in your sleep!

Here are a few of my wedding day picks!

1. Giuseppe Zanotti, $750.00
2. BCBG, $198.00
3. BCBG, $195.00
4. Nine West, $120.00
5. Alexander McQueen, $995.00

1. Steve Madden, $129.95
2. Kate Spade, $298.00
3. Miu Miu, $595.00
4. H Williams, $357.50
5. Miu Miu, $485.00

xoxo

Danielle

Pig Trees

2011-03-14T07:35:00.000-07:00

Pig trees. By definition of my sisters and I, they are the common cherry blossom tree. They captivated us on a trip out west to Vancouver when we were younger, we had never seen such a beautiful sapling. Growing up in Calgary we have coniferous trees and the dreaded Poplar which sheds it's despicable sticky seedlings all over the ground each year. The fluffy pick and white blossoms blowing in the wind were so breathtaking. They instantly were one of my very favorite highlights of the city I was blessed to call home for a few short years. I even have permanently and painfully added them to my tattoo collection.

Along with great vehicles, TV's and sushi, we have the beautiful country of Japan to thank for our trees here in Canada (you can read about the history of the trees gifted to us here). Japan this week has suffered one of their worst disasters in history with the 8.9 earthquake and the tsunami that followed. The images are heart wrenching and unbelievable. The Japanese are proud and beautiful people and we have watched as they deal with this horrific occurrence with grace and calmness. It's really hard to think of anything but them at this time.

The Japanese national treasure, the Sakura, makes for a gorgeous starting point for colours and florals for a wedding. They are soft and pretty and can be combined with several accent colours to create a very vivid look, or a softer, feminine feel. However you use them, make sure you whisper a little "thank you" to beautiful Japan for giving us something so stunning.

Something Blue

2011-02-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

Some weddings are based around a favorite throw cushion, a scarf, a postcard or a photo. And then some weddings have no choice but to be based around the dress. If you buy a dress that is not your typical bridal gown, you may want to go this route, I know that's what I will be doing, hoping that I find the perfect vintage antique lace Claire Pettibone gown.

When I spotted this stunning Christian Dior couture gown I needed to set up some kind of scene for what type of wedding this could become. I despise royal blue - it reminds me of prom dresses - but mixed with lots of whites and hints of rustic brown elements it can really look crisp and fresh.

Here's what I came up with based off this piece of art - now can someone PLEASE buy this dress and hire me to coordinate?! Thank you.

An Ode to Love.

2011-02-14T09:22:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day readers! I actually seriously LOVE this holiday. What can I say, I love love, which may be partially why I chose the wedding industry to get into. I'm a hopeless romantic and someone who puts a lot into the little four letter word. I am lucky to have so much love in my life, like, brimming over with it and my heart bursting at the seams.

Valentine's Day used to be a dad and daughter thing around our house. With four daughters, my dad was Purdy's favorite customer. He would always get us the assorted box and then a small toy as a token of affection. We'd wait patiently all day waiting for dad to get home from work, staring out the window for his little orange Toyota, then tried to pawn off the chocolate covered ginger pieces, who in the world created such an awful thing?! I told Josh this several years ago, how much it meant to my sister's and I that my dad would do this, so he has followed suit quite nicely.

So today, on a day where people who are newly single, divorced or fighting with a loved one pretend to be bitter and throw hatred towards the holiday, I try and remind them that it's not just a love between a couple that should be celebrated, friends, family, even the bond between pets is something to cheer about. Love is nice that way, everyone has someone or something to love.

Our little gremlin Maeby - she stole our hearts years ago with her big ears and bulgey eyes.

Our handsome foster boy Crosby, the perfect dog, even when he does destroy 4 books in a few hours.

My dad - my very first Valentine.

They say you don't know love until you have a child - and I can fully get on board with that. Never have I loved anything so quickly in my life. She is hilarious, beautiful and brilliant. She has a heart of gold and melts mine every day.

My momma and me - the person who taught me how to be a mom and love unconditionally.

Two of our best friends, Ashley and Mark - the only thing I don't like about them is how long they took to enter our lives. I cannot wait for the third Dyer to arrive in July, another one to love.

My girlfriends since high school, no matter how often or not we see each other it's like no time has passed at all. We are all so different we each bring a fun little piece to the puzzle that makes a beautiful group of girlfriends.

My sisters and I, they are my heart and are always with me even though we spend more time apart than together.

The epitome of love - my grandparents. They are high school sweethearts and have raised my huge, weird and lovely family.

The love of my life. You never really know your type until they storm into your day with a pile of mail and get you so riled up that you knock everything off your desk. The only person in the world that tolerates me every day and still kisses me goodnight. I can't imagine my life without him in it, and know that we'll grow old together, laughing at eachother's stupid jokes and ugly faces.

FRD - Daddy's Little Girl - Deborah and Barrett

2011-01-28T10:48:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the final installment of Deborah and Barrett's beautiful day! It was my second last wedding of the season and a nice way to wrap up a great year of wonderful couples and unique and special weddings. It was my first full year of planning and I was so happy with all of my experiences! Deb and Barrett's wedding was extremly special to me, since it was the first wedding where I got to see it from start to finish, the proposal to the "I Do's".

Congratulations my friends, and all the best in this coming year (hopefully we can welcome some little mini Deb and Barrett's, he he!). All my love to you both...

Deborah and Barrett, October 9, 2010
The overall theme/colour/feel for the wedding: The colours were navy blue and fuchsia with a hint of white. Navy blue and fuchsia are my two favorite colors. I wanted classy but elegant for the colour scheme.

My dress was simple but classy without too much bling bling. It was strapless with a sparkly brooch on each hip and one just under my chest. It was shoe laced in the back which was probably my favorite part and my train was nice and long. My hair was all up with a veil that came to the small of my back. My shoes were fuchsia suede flats with ruffles on the heels and I wore drop earrings. My garter was hand made from a girlfriend of mine. My father in law had to have the best of the best for flowers so the bridal party and flower arrangements at the reception were from a very high end florist here in town, Itinerante in Bankers Hall. The groom wore a black suit, with a white shirt, a white vest and an white tie. He had a fuchsia handkerchief in his jacket pocket. The groomsman wore black tux's with a white shirt, navy blue vest and tie with a fuchsia handkerchief in their jacket pockets. The father of the bride wore a fuchsia handkerchief in his jacket pocket and the father of the groom wore a white one.

The bridesmaids wore matching navy blue dresses, fuchsia shawls and silver jewelry to match their shoes. Their bouquets were fuchsia roses, cockscomb celosia, white freesia, and wax flowers.

For the reception the tables were square with white linen and sterling silver flatware. The chairs were left uncovered to show off the beautiful natural wood. The centre pieces were a mixture of loose fuchsia rose petals, full roses, silver candle holders, different size vases with roses and petals and on each table was a picture of one of our engagement photos. Beautifully done!

How we met: We have a mutual friend that just happen to invite us out to a get together the same night. We actually never said a word to each other until hours later when I wanted to dance but no one was interested in dancing. I later found out that our friend whispered into Barrett's ear and said " If you don’t go and dance with her, your an idiot " So we went to dance but we ended up standing in the middle of the dance floor just talking. When the song was over he said " come with me, I need to grab my jacket from coat check" so I went with him and waited outside the door while he went in to get his jacket. A guy approached me and I wasn’t interested in talking to him so when I saw Barrett come out, I said to the guy " Oh there is my boyfriend, gotta go " and I went a grabbed his hand. We both instantly felt this shock like we had both just been electrocuted. It was the most amazing feeling that I have ever felt in my entire life. We talked for a little bit, about golf and how much we both love hockey and we even argued over the fact that he is a Calgary Flames fan and I am a Vancouver Canucks fan. The night was coming to an end so he asked for my phone number. Two days later (on Monday), we talked for five hours on the phone, Tuesday it was four hours, Wednesday it was two hours and on Thursday we had our first date. By the weekend, I just knew he was the one for me and that I was going to marry him. We have, for the most part been inseparable ever since.

Proposal:

From Barrett's POV – We had already been ring shopping so she knew it was going to happen but she didn’t know when. I made arrangements with Alberta Diamond Exchange to pick the ring up once it was ready without her knowing. As soon as I got home that day, I phoned her father to ask for his blessing; that was the easy part. Now I had to decide just where and when I was going to purpose. After some thought and hearing some of my friend's suggestions, I thought of asking her at one of my hockey games since hockey is a big part of both of our lives and Deb never misses one of my games so I knew for sure she wouldn’t suspect anything. I made some calls to some of the guys on my team to bring their girlfriends and wives to celebrate with us. With everyone knowing except for Deb what I was going to do after the game, I had to make sure she was going to be waiting for me to get off the ice so I asked some friends to make sure that happened. Having the ring in my glove, coming off the ice I was really nervous and wanted it to go has planned. She was there waiting for me to give me a kiss and that’s when I told her that I had something to tell her. I took off my helmet, looked her in the eye and told her that I loved her. She gave me this weird look and that’s when I got down on one knee, equipment and all and asked her to be my wife. With some choice words, she asked if I was kidding and I said no. With my hands shaking, I managed to put the ring on her finger and she then said “Yes". One thing I didn’t plan was to get this on video but luckily Brittany was a smart thinker and taped it. We have watched it many times since.

From Deborah's POV- That night was nothing out of the ordinary. I came home from work; we had dinner and then got ready to leave for Barrett's hockey game. I make a point to go to every game because for me, God forbid I miss a really good game or miss out on seeing Barrett get a really good goal. I look forward to his goals because he skates past me and secretively blows me a kiss or shoots me a smile and all I can see is his mouth covered by a big black mouth guard. Those moments make me giggle every time. We had gone ring shopping and were referred to Darren from Alberta Diamond Exchange. We had spent a lot of time with him, learning all about diamonds, you know, cut, color, clarity etc and figuring out what was important to me and also what style of ring I wanted. So once we got that all figured out, it was just a matter of Barrett purchasing the diamonds so that they could go ahead and design my ring. I knew he was going to ask me, it was just WHEN?? It was almost three months later and that night I saw Brittany, who I knew was a wedding planner so I just had to talk to her and ask her a million and one questions. I pretty much spent the entire game complaining of the fact it’s been so long and Barrett still hasn’t asked me. Not knowing that she was there because she knew that Barrett was going to ask me after the game. I had no idea that everyone knew about it so I was quite embarrassed that I spent all that time complaining. I was in complete shock when he got down on one knee and didn’t know if it was really happening but managed, after a few choice words to say “Yes". We are super happy that Brittany got it on video because we laugh every time we watch it.

Wedding Drama: With never meeting our Pastor before, we had made arrangements to meet him a few weeks before the wedding so we could go over what was to happen that day and things that we wanted and just a chance to get to know him and be comfortable. So I got a few pots of coffee on the go and picked up some timbits from Timmy's and made a cheese and crackers spread. We were looking forward to finally meeting him. We had no idea that, that was the day he was going to have an emotional breakdown and spend two hours at our kitchen table telling us about his horrible childhood and his screwed up family. Now I cant go into great detail but some of his stories could be told on Oprah and the others on The Jerry Springer show. When he finally left, we just sat there with our mouths wide open in complete shock and wondering if this just happened. We were so mentally drained that all I could do was phone the director of the church to tell her what had just happened and that we in no way shape or form wanted him to marry us. Are you kidding? She was pretty upset and told us that she would take care of it and find us someone else. I then spent the next few days wanting to pull my hair out from leaving message after message with her, wanting to know what was going to happen and why she hasn’t returned my phone calls. She finally called me back to tell me that there she couldn’t find anybody to take over because it was Thanksgiving weekend and the other Pastor were going to be out of town. It was to late to try and find a pastor that we could bring in ourselves so our only option was to try and put this behind us and meet with this Pastor again and see how things go. We decided to meet him in a public place this time so that if I needed to scream, someone would hear me. The meeting went better than we thought and this time it wasn’t all about him. We got done what was needed to be done and we left there feeling a bit better and that everything was going to work out and that day was going to be beautiful as long as we could forget about the stories he had told us. That day went smoothly and even the days leading up to it. My dress got picked up on time, my family all arrived from out of town on time, safe and sound, everyone that needed to be at the rehearsal was there. I woke up feeling calm and excited. My bridal party all got up and started to get ready. My two hairdressers arrived on time and started doing our hair. Things were perfect!!! The only thing that happened that really upset me was that instead of a candle ceremony, we chose to do a sand ceremony instead. We spent a lot of time picking out our verses and prayers that were very special to us. We gave it to the pastor the night before at the rehearsal and he didn’t say a single word during the sand ceremony and we were so upset but I wasn’t going to let it ruin the rest of our day but it took me weeks to finally be able to let it go. Oh and we accidently paid the pastor and extra $25.00 to boot!

The whole day was amazing for us! We had the warmest day of the year; all of our loving friends and family were there. Special moment’s i.e hiding behind a fence watching Barrett get out of the car and seeing how handsome he looked in his tux, it instantly made me cry. The look on his face when Barrett watched me walk down the isle. The moment I shared with my dad and that he did everything he could not to cry in front of me. We both loved the feeling of us holding hands during the ceremony, the love and kind words from everyone. Our amazing wedding planner that made our special day more beautiful than we could ever have imagined and our very gifted and talented photographer who captured our memories that we will cherish for a life time.

Ceremony : McKenzie Towne Church
Reception: Sirocco Golf and Country Club
Wedding Day Coordination: Urban Vows
Photography: Shutterbird Photography
Flowers: Itinerante, Bankers Hall
Wedding Dress: The Bridal Centre
Tux's: Moore's Clothing for Men

The Calgary Wedding Fair

2011-01-24T09:57:00.000-08:00

Oh where do I start with this!?

My passion for weddings runs deep and has done so since I knew what tulle was. Everyday, white dresses and dreamy venues float around in my head and have come to the conclusion with my fashion forward friend, Danielle of Death by Shoe that the number one leading cause of divorce is not money, nor infidelity, but colour palettes. The wide array of them that make us wedding freaks go crazy, needing to have multiple weddings to get these pretty colour combos out of our systems.

This past weekend, all my favorite vendors were anxiously getting revved up for Calgary's biggest bridal event, The Calgary Wedding Fair. I rounded up a few girlfriends (thank you Din for being my unofficial Wedding Fair photographer and providing this posts lovely snapshots!), armed with four complimentary tickets and four VIP fashion show tickets and hit the road. When we walked in we had no idea where to start, so we chose the fashion show, and what a treat that was! I must say, the variety of dresses was lacking, especially the way bridal fashion is heading, in a couture direction and with sleeves making a comeback, I was a tad disappointed seeing ball gown after ballgown of strapless varieties, all with a bit too much bling for my taste. But can we talk about the "grooms". Holy mother of all things wonderful, the guys did a spectacular job. The Wedding Fair hired these models based not only on looks, but talent and I know that many of these fine specimens were professional dancers. They were entertaining and there was not one lady in the audience that wasn't grinning ear to ear (if there was, I am convinced they may not have a soul...). The stage was also impressive, the best I have seen in Calgary as far as fashion shows go, we are not the most fashion forward city in the world by any stretch of the imagination!. It was backlit, and very chic. I also would have loved if they identified the designers, so that I knew who NOT to look for when wedding dress shopping, ha ha!

After the fashion show we took in a little bit of wine tasting - which we tried to do before the show - in which we got the comment "ladies, it's not even 11:00, that's when we start pouring". Who the heck says there's a time limit on alcohol consumption, we were ready!

We went from there on to the table top decorating competition. This is actually where I think I could be a contender. I love creating a different look to each wedding - and I think the whole room can be transformed with well done table decor. One thing that seems to be on the trend upswing is not so much covering chairs, but changing out chairs all together. The girls moaned with embarrassment that I knew what chiavari and ghost chairs were, they would rather refer to them as "clear" or "gold fancy", ha ha!

Next, onto winding around the hundreds of booths. I have to say, it was a tad bit awkward not being engaged as I got asked multiple times when my wedding date was, had I picked a venue etc. Although - before heading to the show, I gave fair warning to Josh that our "wedding date" on my ballot entry stickers was September 15, 2012, and that I hoped this was alright with him (like he had a choice, right!?).

I was in wedding heaven, this was my mecca and I squealed with delight when seeing my form of "celebrities". When you love weddings as much as I do, and stalk blogs, wedding sites and magazine racks constantly and then get to meet these vendors in person, well, it's pretty exciting. The Social Page had great wedding stationary, Lynn Fletcher's booth was definitely something to write home about and deservedly won best booth, Ed Ross was his usual humble and friendly self and Great Events with their table top waitress decked out with delectable looking desserts was very innovative. I love seeing different things presented, with the amount of research I do it's very refreshing.

The edible treats displayed were super droolworthy! M for Macaron (love that name!) had such a beautiful, fun display - and confirmed what I already had a feeling about, that macaron's are quickly replacing the cupcake trend. Another trend I find coming back is good old wedding cakes. There were beautiful cakes displayed by Cakery Bakery, Buttercream Bakeshoppe, and Cakeworks.

The whole show really exceeded my expectations, thousands of brides had so many options of everything from dresses and venues, to flowers and cakes. I loved the variety and knowing that all these brides-to-be are able to choose the vendors that are perfectly suited to them.

Congratulations to all the vendors, and a huge thank you to Calgary Wedding Fair for putting on a spectacular and very successful show!

It's All in the Details

2011-01-16T20:11:00.000-08:00

Deb and Barrett - Part Two

I am going to let the pictures do the talking in this post, so just a few words to explain the overall feel and theme of the day. The bride was adamant, as she should have been, that she wanted a gorgeous wedding despite the short timeline and limited budget. When I brought them their wedding outline, I had also created a colour palette for them to peruse. I was elated when they loved everything about the navy, fuchsia and white scheme I had drawn up for them. I have always wanted to combine these colours for a preppy chic look and was so excited to get to work on this one! The dollar store was my best friend, and I was dead set on the centerpieces being a "cluster" format - high impact, low price. Their day turned out so beautifully, it was a wedding I was so proud of, a lot of work but well worth their reaction!

A huge thank you goes to Chelsea of Shutterbird Photography for all the amazing images, as usual, they are spectacular and as unique as the couple!

For table runners, we rented organza chair sashes at $2.50 a piece. The table numbers we created on a photo machine at Superstore using their engagement photo's and superimposing the numbers onto them using the font application on the machine. Frames were purchased at a dollar sore for $2.00. The mirrored candle holders were also purchased at the dollar store for $3.00 a piece. Proof that if you are crafty enough, you don't have to spend ridiculous amounts on the smaller items involved in the reception.

Ring shot on the bottom of a wine glass

Absolutely stunning views of the valley and gorgeous giant bouquets by Iterante

Card box created by yours truly, from a box, scrapbook paper, and a few scrapbooking decals and lettering, photo guest booked also created by myself on Shutterfly, using their beautiful engagement photos.

As the sun set outside and the room dimmed - all the candles in the room really created a gorgeous glow.

One blossomed fuchsia rose at each place setting.

The centerpieces were what I call "cluster" format, in that each table had different sizes and styles of vases with petals or full blooms of fuchsia roses and floating candles. Many times brides get hung up on each table looking precisely the same, but doing this, having them coordinated but not matching creates an interesting look as well. Between the glass jars, which I already had, and some were borrowed, floating candles and wholesale roses, each centerpiece cost about $10, and looked absolutely beautiful

Their mini wedding cake with fresh irises and roses made by Allison LaFrance of Siraia at Sirocco .

A close-up of the stunning bouquets by Iterante in Bankers Hall. These bouquets weighed around 50-60 pounds - I know, I re-arranged them several times, ha ha!

The afternoon sunlight in this room creates beautiful images like this one.

The happy couple and their colour coordinated balloons (all the way from Granville Island!).

The bouquets done by Iterante were some of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Fuchsia flats - shoe choice of a smart bride!

Because the engagement was so short, the bride had to buy "off the rack" and I believe this was only the 2nd dress she tried on, but we all knew it was the one! She looked amazing in it!

Oh! I always wanted to be a wedding planner!

2011-01-12T20:06:00.000-08:00

Deb and Barrett - Part One

Photo courtesy of Shutterbird Photography

Every wedding is so unique to me, each couple and their personalities, what is important to them and what they could not care less about. Their ideas, colours, themes and details all are so intriguing to me. I chose Deb and Barrett's wedding to showcase what exactly being a wedding planner entails, as all so often people tell me they are envious of the job, which I love! But...and yes, there is always a but, it has it's pitfalls as well. Things such as time away from your family and friends, being hired for a friends wedding and no longer being able to enjoy yourself as a guest, and then there are the lists and countless details, the sleepless nights that you worry about something, or, completely the opposite, you are so excited about an idea you cannot turn your brain off.

Deb and Barrett's wedding was created in a very short time span, less than five months and therefore the wedding checklist was expedited and we packed a lot into each day.

First things first, the venue. Most venues are booked at least a year in advance, sometimes two, depending on the popularity and location of it. Finding a venue that was still available in October was a daunting task indeed. At least 50 different venues were called and emailed, from hotels, to community halls, golf clubs to restaurants. The large majority of these were booked, and outright laughed at me thinking I could squeak in a wedding in a few months. The one's that weren't did not fit the criteria, too expensive, too low a capacity, not the right "feel" and the list goes on. Finally, one day, a miracle occurred and the Siraia Restaurant at Sirocco Golf Club was available! We made a meeting out at the gorgeous country club, with stunning views of a golden valley and we were sold. We snapped a few quick pictures while we were there to use on their invitations.

Outside of Sirocco

Next, the invitations. I made these using the photo's we took at Sirocco on Wedding Paper Diva's. They are actually on a save-the-date template, so you are only able to add minimal detail, but then we added the website, which I created on mywedding.com where guests could RSVP, book hotels, add well wishes, see the registry and be introduced to the bridal party. This is a great alternative, as the invitations themselves are under two dollars and you save paper and postage by completely avoiding the RSVP cards.

Invitations created on Wedding Paper Diva's

The next few months were filled with dress fittings, meetings with the couple, calls and emails to florists, creating a cardbox, making the table numbers, numerous trips to Dollarama and booking a photographer, Chelsea from Shutterbird Photography. After Deb and Barrett had Chelsea do their engagement photo's, I used them to make a stunning, hard cover guest book that was used for the wedding guests to sign in their best wishes to the couple - such a great alternative to the traditional guestbook.

Guest book created on Snapfish

Then there was the stagette - it was a "Hockey Bunnies and their Players" themed jack and jill party. Most of us know one another through hockey, and the couple even got engaged in an arena so we thought it really suited them. The girls went out to pole-dancing class and Melrose while the boys played hockey and golf and we all met up for a BBQ later on that night. This is a great alternative to all the debauchery that often comes with stags and stagette's.

Deb in her Mrs. Hemsing Canucks shirt and veil!

A wedding planner sandwich! And yes, Barrett is wearing 7 year old girls pajamas.

Ash enjoying one of Melrose's famous fishbowls!

To cut on costs, I ordered flowers online to create the centerpieces and a few accent bouquets for the guestbook table and the throw-away bouquet. This was a huge amount of manual labor, organizing the timing of deliveries, and riving buckets of flowers to my house. There is also major risk involved in this, as I wanted a particular look to the room and that was fully opened roses, so I received the roses, irises and alstromeria to be delivered two days ahead. My kitchen and dining room looked like a hurricane had ripped through a flower bed. All together these flowers cost less than $300, so yes saved money but the labor involved was intense. After cutting, arranging and putting back in rubbermaids with water, and popping them in my car they were ready for the golf course the next day, again, several trips of huge buckets full of flowers and water. Good news? The flowers were STUNNING. They opened into these huge bright pink blooms.

The throwaway bouquet - hey, I never claimed I was a florist!

Right before the wedding, usually one or two days in advance I attend the rehearsal. I don't usually get involved at this point, but am there to support the bride and groom and ensure they are comfortable with everything, meet the family and the bridal party and just become familiar with the program of the wedding day.

Deb and Barrett must be professionals - they seem a bit bored at the rehearsal, ha ha!

The morning of the wedding day involved driving back and forth to the golf course 3 times, partially setting up the room, racing back to the city to get my own family ready for the wedding, and pick up a huge balloon bouquet of navy and fuchsia balloons for the photo shoot after the ceremony. After the ceremony I race back out to the golf course to finish the room for a few hours, and just as guests arrive I am lighting the candles. The room looked better than I could have imagined it, and from the look on Deb and Barrett's faces, I knew they felt the same. Once that initial grand entrance occurs, for the most part, I am off duty, unless I am hired for tear down as well.

It is an exhausting 12+ hour day, with little time to stop and breath, think, eat or drink, and my limbs hurt for days after a big wedding, but...and yes...there is always a but...I LOVE my job. I love the smiles on the happy couples faces, knowing they are calm, and relaxed and enjoying their day because they don't have a thing to worry about. The details are something that I thrive on, and seeing a room transform into something you've only imagined in your head is magical. If you want to be a wedding planner, my advice is to work a few as an intern, either with myself or any other wedding coordinating companies in your area. We are a warm and welcoming industry and very supportive of one another. If this is something you dream of doing and even though I have shown you a small glimpse of the "real" work involved and you're still intrigued, you might just be a perfect fit in this crazy fun industry!

Deb and Barrett - A Three Part Mini-Series

2011-01-06T11:38:00.000-08:00

Image by Urban Vows - taken to create personalized wedding invitations on Wedding Paper Divas

Deb and Barrett were my second last wedding of the year, but definitely my most involved wedding - maybe because it was planned in four months! That's right, it can be done, and corners do not need to be cut!

Deb and Barrett were engaged May 2010, after sitting in a cold hockey arena, having Deb complain the entire game about how Barrett wasn't popping the question and she was tired of waiting, I witnessed the proposal of this beautiful couple. Yes, right there, in the arena, with his skates still laced, Barrett got down on one knee and asked Deb to be his wife. I even managed to get a quick video (yes, there is the "F" word involved! But it's still REALLY cute!):

I decided since this wedding was labor intensive, very personal and very much close to my heart I would create a mini-series on it;

1) "Oh! I always wanted to be a wedding planner!". I cannot count the number of times I have heard this when I tell people what my part time job is, and this is a behind the scenes look at the industry. This post is to get down to the nitty gritty business of wedding planning, it's not all roses and diamonds - but never the less, I love my job.

2) "It's All In the Details" - a gallery of gorgeous photo's from Deb and Barrett's day, and how to re-create this look on a budget.

3) "FRD - Daddy's Little Girl - Deborah and Barrett" - A new Friday Real Deal wedding! The big day from Deb's viewpoint.

As always, feel free to leave some love in the comments, or if you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me - info@urbanvows.com

Unless otherwise stated, all photo's are courtesy of Chelsea at Shutterbird Photography. Thank you once again for capturing unique and beautiful images that truly reflected the couple!

Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noël, Merry Christmas

2010-12-22T07:05:00.000-08:00

Greetings! In the off season, I continually am scoping new ideas, colour schemes and crafty ways to make each wedding unique and wonderful, and ensure each wedding is unlike any before it. I also celebrate numerous occasions with my friends and family. Weddings are my true passion, but special events in general excite me to the point of throwing a bowl of pistachios across my office because I can't physically contain how elated I am that there is a holiday coming. My favorite of these occasions is Christmas.

As a young child I would start counting down the days until Christmas after my second favorite holiday (Halloween) was over. There are numerous family traditions that I am hoping to pass on to my daughter - as I think we had it pretty good growing up and these magical times I had with my sisters are too special not to pass on. The traditional gingerbread house, NOT from a kit, opening a gift on Christmas Eve, the annual "wifesaver" breakfast, and going to Heritage Park to take in the old fashioned feel of Christmas and have Brookie shop for us in the "Kids Only" store, never in my life have I been so excited to unwrap a gift. In the spirit of not making Brooke's life a carbon copy of mine, I have also started some traditions of our own. Her first year as a baby I was fairly poor and all I could afford for her was a hardcover copy of "Auntie Claus". I wrote a heartfelt message to my newborn baby and the tradition has held each year for me to give her a new Christmas book with a message from her mom telling her all the things I am proud of her for.

Our Christmas cards each year are a photo montage of our family, dogs included and we have our good friend Chelsea from Shutterbird Photography snap some casual family photos. This year is our first Christmas in our new home and I was so excited to not have to deal with Christmas in a condo - but to have a full yard and home to decorate to my liking. Our living room is colour coordinated with purple and red and last year during Boxing week, I snapped up decorations to match this theme, I must say - our tree is one of the most beautiful trees I have seen!

Picking out our first real Christmas tree (thank you IKEA)

Ginger Josh, Brittany, Brookie and Maeby (and angel Dexter up on the roof!)

Our chance to pet a real reindeer at Heritage Park, I was more excited than Brookie I think!

My little girl writing her letter to Santa on Christmas Eve

And of course he wrote back!

Brookie checking out our lights

Santa was good to us!

We hosted Christmas morning breakfast, this was our simple centerpiece created with pomegranates, chestnuts, greenery from our dying tree and cranberries.

The cherple (mini version of cherpumple) I baked to finish off Christmas dinner. So good!

Tobogganing with Brookie was a fun way to start the holidays!

I hope that you and yours have a wonderful holiday season, whatever way you like to celebrate and whatever traditions you decide to integrate, and do know, that these traditions stay in a child's heart for the rest of their lives, as my Christmas memories are some of my very happiest. Love to you and yours this season and all the best in the New Year! xo Brittany

Christmas card photo by Chelsea at Shutterbird Photography

One is the Loneliest Number

2010-12-10T12:29:00.001-08:00

Alright, alright, alright!

Apparently it's awesome videography week around the interweb this week as I can't NOT share some of these with you guys. This video is THE most amazing save the date trailer I have ever seen - I actually snorted laughing when she jumped out of the silver screen! Ha ha, so creative. She's an actress and he's a producer, so this was quite fitting for them.

Bringing the Doors Outdoors

2010-12-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

I have always wondered what kind of pressure a photographer would be under to shoot a fellow photographer's wedding. This trailer for photographers Jodi and Kurt's wedding is absolutely classic. There are so many little details that make the wedding unique. I have never before seen doors installed in the outdoors, and the boutonniere with the camera lens on the groom? Amazing. The soft vintage colours are so romantic and her dress is stunning. The couple looks so ecstatic to be spending the rest of their lives together.

Jodi + Kurt // Wedding Highlights from Josh Gooden on Vimeo.

Wakeboard Wedding

2010-12-07T20:00:00.001-08:00

Wow, this is pretty much one of the coolest same-day edits I have ever seen. I have to say, I am not confident my skills as a wakeboarder could risk me doing this, but what a ridiculously fun couple!

Amanda + Ben's Wedding Trailer {wakeboarding included} from Epic Motion on Vimeo.

A Wedding Hang Up

2010-12-07T10:05:00.000-08:00

Okay brides - I know this is one of those itsy bitsy details that are often overlooked - and you can file this one under miscellaneous costs in your budget, but trust me, you'll be grateful! Hangers! Oh my goodness there have been many times that a photographer goes to do a dress shot and there is nothing but a tacky wire hanger from the dry cleaner. Yick! Here's a fairly affordable and beautifully customized way to display your dress, and you can find them from multiple vendors on Etsy.

It's all in the details, right?!

Confetti Films

2010-12-01T18:36:00.000-08:00

These people are the best of the best. Like...THE best. Every video I watch of theirs I tear up, their videos are the most beautiful keepsake from your wedding day, and my correspondence with Nicole, the owner has been nothing but sunshine and roses, she is an absolute sweetheart. I patiently wait for the day I can hire Confetti Films for our big day.

Jenna + Ray from Confetti Films on Vimeo.

When a Groom Cries...

2010-11-26T12:26:00.000-08:00

I cry...

Thought I'd share this beautiful wedding video with you lovelies! Enjoy your weekend!

xo B

Trash That Dress!

2010-11-26T10:54:00.000-08:00

A trend that I am not yet one hundred percent comfortable with is the TTD sessions. Trash the Dress sessions are becoming more and more popular and maybe I am uncomfortable with it because I can't see myself being cool enough to do this myself. I mean, you really have to detach yourself from the item at hand here ("the" dress) and me being the person that thinks Christmas Trees have feelings and as a child gave each stuffed animal equal snuggling rights in my bed, I tend to really attach myself to non-living objects. Seeing that weddings are something I wake up and go to bed thinking about, could I really destroy that focal point of my big day? I have gathered here some examples of these daring brides and give them so much credit for several reasons: One - you have realized that your dress does not have feelings (unlike the Christmas trees that don't get picked at the lots!). Two - you are willing to step out of the box, and possibly take criticism from your grandmother amongst others. Three -you have braved elements such as mud, cold and swamp water in order to get that killer shot!

What do you think? Could you do it? I mean, look at these stunning images, including some local talent - check out the credits if you're interested in taking the plunge (like...literally!).

Urban Vows Bride Rhodora, married this past November! Photo Credit Abby Photography

This one looks chilly! Photo Credit to the "godfather" and master of Trash the Dress sessions John Michael Cooper
(do yourself a favor and check out the rest of his signature images, wow!)

I love her dress, and it reminds me of the Bow River, something like this could be done in Calgary, if you're okay with frozen toes! Photo Credit Varia Lebiadzenka

This bride is gorgeous, and is that the mud that makes her eyes pop like that? Photo Credit Sheila Hannus

Yes! Why should the bride have all the fun?! As much as I think this is an outtake, I am a huge fan of sun flare and this image to me represents that married people have fun too! Photo credit Normy B

I am in love with this image - it almost looks like a painting. Photo Credit Chugach Peaks Photography

Some how Calgary's very own "As I See It" gets super models for every single wedding they do! This session had so many amazing shots it was hard to choose! Photo Credit As I See It Photography

I love the rings of water around her, looks like perfection. Photo credit Funky Town Photography

I love the vintage feel of this photo! Captured by another talented Calgary photographer, JT Images

This shot was captured in Alberta's Badlands, which was so unique and the other images from this shoot were to die for. This one caught my eye because it wasn't only about trashing the dress, the couple looks so much in love. I love love! Photo Credit to another talented Calgarian, KH Photography

The shots from this series were so moody, vivid and dramatic, I bet the bride was thrilled with the final result! Yet again, another Calgary photographer, Northridge Photography

FRD - Autumn Perfection - Lisa and Danny

2010-11-05T10:23:00.001-07:00

Oh do I ever have some eye candy for you guys! A great looking couple and an absolutely perfect wedding, stunning colours, beautiful setting, and photo's by Olivia Lauren that yes, Lisa, your daughter will fawn over without a doubt.

Lisa and I went to St. Francis High School together and I still see her around town quite often so I am so excited to share their big day with everyone. When she first posted pictures I was so excited to go through them that I went checked them out first on my iPhone since I wasn't at home (a shattered iPhone at that) and let me tell you, that did not do them justice. The red dresses are my favorite bridesmaid dresses I have seen to date, as the colour is like candy apples and the actual style looks gorgeous on all the girls. Lisa looked stunning, so classic, the hair, the little sparkly clip - no details were overlooked.

All the best in your new life together Lisa and Danny!
P.S. The proposal story? Amazing.

Lisa and Danny, September 25th 2010

Overall Feel For the Wedding:
-Ever since I was a little girl pouring over my parents photographs of their wedding, I’ve always had the picture in my head of a classic Fall wedding, complete with bright rich colors of reds, oranges, and greens, combined with the more classic rustic colors of bronze and gold. The dresses, the flowers, the pew decorations, even the wedding cake and the favour bags all consisted of a fall theme, which (in my opinion) made for some amazing pictures that I can hope my own daughter will fawn over one day!

How we met
Danny and I met the unconventional, but all the more common way, via online dating. I was currently away at school in Lethbridge but knew I would be moving home in the upcoming months and was looking to expand my social circle and to meet new people. I didn't have any expectations about meeting someone I would actually consider dating (let alone marrying!) but I thought if I could make a few new friends and possibly go out on a couple of dates, why not give it a go? Little did I know I would wind up meeting the man I would spend the rest of my life with...thank you, lavalife.com!

The Proposal:
We were on a Caribbean cruise in the winter of 2009 when the weather turned sour. We were especially upset that we were unable to dock in Jamaica, Danny more so than I. He pouted the entire day, and I didn’t understand why until we were in our stateroom getting ready for dinner. Danny, being the quiet country soul that he is, was singing along to the ipod to a Dirks Bently song, “My Last Name.” He was dressed in his tux for dinner, and when the line of the song came up, “darling if you’re wondering, why I brought you here tonight, I want to be your husband, I want you to be my wife...” He got down on one knee and pulled out the ring of my dreams!! He had been planning on proposing on top of a waterfall in Jamaica, but I think this improvisation was so much better!

Wedding Drama:
We had quite a bit of wedding drama, but thankfully it all came about long before the wedding. We ordered the bridesmaid dresses via the world wide web, and it turned out the color swatch (which we had checked in the store before ordering) was about 5 shades different than the one I had wanted! To top that off, one of the girls could barely even get hers on, as it was definitely not in the size she had ordered! Thankfully, the dress was alterable, and I was still able to change my linens to compliment the colors of the dresses. It turned out bright red of the girls dresses was a blessing, as they look amazing in all the pictures, but it was definitely a lot of drama we did not need!
Then there was MY wedding dress. I went to get it altered, and it turned out the lady who had ordered it measured me wrong, and the hem of the dress was about 6 inches off the floor! I had already bought my wedding shoes, and it turned out I had to go and buy a new pair as I couldn’t have a very high heel! After 2 consultations and a lot of freaking out, the seamstress was able to rip out the inseam to make it longer, but it took a lot of creative thinking in order to avoid a major bridezilla meltdown. I also couldn’t find a white wedding shoe that I liked, so 2 days before the wedding I decided to go with a bright red shoe to compliment the girls’ dresses. Alls well that ends well, no?

Church: Ascension Parish
Reception: Calgary Winter Club
Formal Photo’s location: Confederation Park
Photographer: Olivia Lauren Photography
Linen: Exquisite Events/ Great Events Group
Dress: Bridal Centre
Florist: Petals N Blooms
Shoes: Browns
Cake: Cakery Bakery
DJ: First Entertainment DJ

Vampires, Cupcakes and Candles

2010-10-30T13:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween my fellow wedding and all-things-fun friends!

Even though my business is solely focused on organizing and executing lovely people's nuptials, one thing you may not know about me is I should probably star on that show "Party Mama's", but maybe alter it to "Party Mama's on a Budget" since there is no way I am blowing my mortgage on a big bash!

I absolutely love theme parties, and once I pick a theme I go all out, and it's a force that cannot be contained! A lot of people ask where this obsession with theme parties comes from and I finally realized, I got it from my momma! My mom always put some serious effort into holidays and birthday's. I vividly remember my sister Meagan's panda themed birthday party: it was 1988 and the Giant Panda's were being lent to the Calgary Zoo from China and my mom took that and went with it. I remember the Panda cake and ice cream, games and masks, I just thought it was so awesome, we had THE coolest parties ever. I don't know if my mom realized how much this meant to us, and apparently helped me choose my career path, if not, thanks ma. I hope Brookie loves all her parties just as much as I loved mine and all my sisters', who knows, maybe she'll be my partner in party crime one day!

Last weekend I was honored to host the monthly ladies "book club" (see: ladies drinking copious amounts of wine, eating delicious food and acting like we just got fake ID's). It is always hosts choice for what book we will be reading and I took full advantage of this privilege and made it a Twilight Party - that's right, yours truly is a major Twi-hard. Thank you in advance to my fellow Twi-hard friend Danielle of Death by Shoes and Chelsea of Shutterbird Photography for most of these wonderful pictures, Chels - the food pictures actually made my tummy grumble!

When I first decided on this theme I searched far and wide on the wonderful world wide web for a classy and creepy way to celebrate my favorite vampires and werewolves. Thank goodness for the queen of theme parties Hostess with the Mostess for her delightful Twilight Party post . It really got the blood flowing (like that? ha ha...) and the ideas just fogged up my mind for weeks before the big bash.

First on my agenda were the apples. I sent Josh to the store to pick up "the shiniest, most Twilightiest apples you can find". He was so nervous about this ever so important mission that he came home with a huge bag of Red Delicious as well as a huge bag of Spartans, both very pleasing to me, such a gem that guy is.

I hosted this party at a perfect time of year, the Halloween decor is on sale and there was Christmas stuff coming out as well - I found thick, wired satin ribbon which I weaved into my blinds and draped over the table to re-create the look of the cover on Eclipse. I places the apples everywhere, in vases with floating candles and water, up my front steps, and in the sangria I made - danger juice! There were candles everywhere to create a classy but haunting appearance and frames the quotes that HWTM provided.

Now, the food, a very important item to the book club. I did a lot of googling and research into what foods were mentioned in the Twilight series. My first find was mushroom ravioli, so I homemade (I will NEVER do that again!) them the night before and fried them up in a sage brown butter. I also made lasagna, Caesar salad, garlic bread, red velvet cupcakes with both blood splattered and sparkly cream cheese icing and vampire bite cookies! I have to say, the red velvet cupcakes were a hit, and I will certainly be making those again, yum!

The success of a theme party is dependant on how dedicated you are to it, and most are created starting from one single object or colour and then expand from there, in this case a simple apple.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween and yes, we did discuss Team Edward and Team Jacob and came up with a very sensible solution - Edward in the summer to keep you cool and Jacob in the winter to keep you warm. We're such intellectuals!

FRD - Apple of My Eye - Evelyn and Jeff

2010-10-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

Evelyn and I first "met" online in our Event Management course. Her and I got along very well, we agreed on a lot of things and are similar in many ways, we were even born within a few days of one another! We have since met in person but both of us being small business owners, plus working our day jobs, renovating, pet owning and life living leaves little time for real meet ups, thank goodness for Facebook! Ev has started a wonderfully successful event design company and she is extremely talented in colour coordinating and making things look absolutely flawless. Check her drool worthy dessert tables and other pretty projects out at http://www.sweetstylings.com/. Thank you to As I See It Photography for the stunning images of Evelyn and Jeff's crisp, clean, modern and of course, perfectly put together wedding.

Evelyn & Jeff

September 13, 2008

Overall theme/colour/feel for the wedding:

I’m a Contemporary Classic girl all the way, so I wanted our wedding to be timeless, sophisticated but a little fun as well. For cultural reasons, I could not have the Black and White combo I craved…black and white is too stark and could be misinterpreted as colours of mourning in Chinese culture, so I compromised with ivory/white, silver and apple green (I wanted desperately to use green apples after seeing a really cool centrepiece idea on The Knot!). Ours was a “Fall”-ish wedding, but I really did not want to use the more conventional reds, oranges and browns.

How we met:

We met at the University of Alberta through our mutual friend Ainsley – I was friends with Ainsley throughout high school and she became friends with a group of boys she met in Engineering…one of them happened to be my future husband! We didn’t start seeing each other until 2 weeks before our First Year ended…just in time for Jeff to move back to BC for the summer. Fun (?) fact: we have actually spent about half of our dating years in a long-distance relationship.

Proposal:

It’s not your typical romantic story…

I was still in my last year of school in Edmonton and Jeff was living in Calgary. I came down on the bus to visit and when Jeff picked me up, I was hungry and wanted a McDonald’s cheeseburger and fries. I eat at a snail’s pace…reallllly slow…so I was wondering why Jeff was pacing in the living room of his condo while I was taking my time eating my supper. Jeff proposed that we should take a walk after I finished eating…at this point, it was about 11pm…which was a rather odd time to choose to take a walk, non? Nevertheless, we went on a walk. Long story short, we wandered in what seemed like an aimless fashion, with him acting more and more bizarre, and then suddenly, we walked back to the condo. I did think “Oh my god, is he going to propose?” but when NOTHING happened, I thought that I was going a little crazy. After arriving back to the condo, I went to wash up for bed, completely confused. After I finished getting ready for bed, Jeff pulled me aside and got down on one knee to propose in the living room of his condo, just after midnight! Turns out, he had an elaborate plan of candles and rose petals but he spent too much time running errands with his parents that afternoon so they thwarted his plans. As well, he was going to propose at sunset, but since I took so long eating, we missed sunset. The aimless wandering? He was trying to find a location he saw once that had twinkle lights strung up…nope, those weren’t around. So what’s a boy to do? He proposed in the most practical location, in the privacy of Home with no fanfare, just genuine words. And to be honest, I’m not a roses and candles kind of gal, and the hijinks are so typically “us” – perfect.

Wedding drama:

Lordy, if only I knew what I know now! I would have hired a Day of Coordinator, for sure, because the amount of stress of planning a detailed wedding while working a demanding full-time job, being a new Cat Mom, organizing and coping with all of our out-of-town family and wedding guests (96% of our guests came from outside of Calgary) and doing all of this while my fiancé was mostly out-of-town, himself, nearly sent me over the edge! I slept, probably 2 hours the night before my wedding – tops – and I didn’t have time to absorb the wonderful feeling of having all of my loved ones with me to celebrate. This is partially the reason I became a wedding planner and designer – to save Brides from headache and to allow them to have a (mostly!) stress-free Day and enjoy spending this happy time with loved ones.

Deets:

Church: Hillhurst United

Reception: Valley Ridge Golf Club

Dress: Alfred Sung
Blissful Bridal
127- 7004 Macleod Trail SE
(It’s a small salon across from Cactus Club. Tammy, the owner, is THE most personable and hands-on salon owner I’ve ever met)

Shoes: Le Chateau

Bridesmaids: Le Chateau

Groom and Groomsmen : Derk’s Formalwear

Rings : Blue Nile

Florist : Eternabloom

Stationery : Me!

Cake: Cakery Bakery

Dessert bar : Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (caramel apples, marshmallow kabobs, chocolate suckers, caramel popcorn) – not photographed

Photography: As I See It Photography

http://asiseeitphotography.ca/

Stop Motion Videos

2010-10-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

I am slightly obsessed with people that are talented in the area of photography and videography, maybe because while I own good equipment and happen to take an okay shot now and again, the time, effort, knowledge and expertise of these people blow my mind. My lovely sister Krista sent me this little gem today and I think it's just beautiful:

And then there's this invitation that I think I emailed to everyone and their dog I was so obsessed, I watched it several times a day, for several weeks:

There certainly is not a whole lot out there on the world wide web in this area, and I think it may be because of the intense involvement and dedication of such a project, but if someone is willing, the outcome is certainly something spectacular

iPhone Proposal = LOVE!

2010-10-19T14:47:00.000-07:00

Anyone that knows me is well aware that my iPhone (bless it's heart) is like an extra limb for me (shattered limb right now, poor thing!), so I was delighted to see such a sweet, creative proposal. I love when guys put so much work into something so important - raising the bar for all those guys with sparklies in their pockets out there!

About the video:

"I proposed to my girlfriend, Vy (Vee), by writing a song and making a music video for her. We went out to see a film at our favorite movie theater and she was completely surprised once she figured out what was playing on the screen wasn't actually an iPhone commercial."

Cute!

FRD - Here Comes the Sun - Claire and Mike

2010-10-19T11:44:00.001-07:00

Claire and I are old pals. We were the best of friends in elementary and junior high school so I have a lot of funny memories. Huck em' chuck em' fishing, the iffy boy ("I'm iffy about almond paste") in cooking class, baby tees with Little Miss Sunshine emblazoned on them, peace sign earrings and green alien necklaces (hey now, don't make fun, they were in style back then!), stealing J-ello powder from our family's pantry's (extra points if you brought the "cool" flavors, blue raspberry or watermelon!) and numerous adventures with the Girl Guides are just some of the memories we share. She is the best hairstylist in Calgary, a loyal friend, a great sister, daughter and devoted wife. I am so happy to share her and her husband's beautiful day with you, photos are courtesy of Nate Northridge http://www.northridgephoto.com/ and are so vivid, rich and romantic. His beautiful wife is another old pal of mine, Claire's best friend, Christina who you will see in the wedding party. Thanks for sharing you two, wishing you a marriage filled with sunshine and J-ello powder!

Mike and Claire
July 25th 2009

We were married out in Cochrane at All Saints Anglican church, we had our photos done near the river in Cochrane, and had our reception at Beupre Hall west of town. We decided to make our wedding a beach theme because of our love of the ocean (my husband is a maritimer) We kept the beach accents to a minimum. Our colour scheme was chocolate brown and Tiffany blue.
The first thing I did when we got engaged was book the church and the venue. Secondly I went and bought my dress. I got my dress at Ethos Bridal, and it was actually the first dress I tried on. I didn't need a whole lot of fitting done, but the woman at Ethos that helped us runs a business out of her house and she did it for me and did a great job. I loved my dress.

The groomsmen wore black tuxes with brown vests and ties, the groom wore a black tux with a silver vest and tie. The bridesmaids wore chocolate brown dresses that we found on Victoria's secret. They were called "convertible dresses" and each bridesmaid wore theirs a slightly different way.

Our linens were white and Tiffany blue. I rented them from a place online, they were reasonable and the woman did pick up and delivery.

Our cake was made by Kathleen Kudding. The cake not only looked great, but tasted fantastic too.

We had our hair and make-up done where I work as a stylist, at Angles in Tuscany. It was kind of like a wedding pre-party because I got to hang out with my closest friends and family and get ready for the big day.

Our photos were done by Nate Northridge with Northridge photography. We could not have been happier with how they turned out. The day was scorching hot, and we had to suffer through the heat taking pictures, but it was worth it. When we were all done, Nate took us through the Starbucks drive thru for much needed ice tea's.

The flowers were done by Panda flowers in Cochrane, they did a fabulous job. We had to give them our order a week before the wedding due to a major screw up by a different flower shop. They came to the rescue and I loved our flowers. I had a mixture of sunflowers, orange gerbera daisies and purple orchids. The men all had orchids to pin to their jackets and the ladies carried sunflowers.

Our centerpieces were square glass vases with sand, shells and candles in them. When all lit up, they looked pretty cool.

How we met:

Embarrassingly enough, we met at a bar called the Metro, 8 years ago. I was only 17 and shouldn't have been there, and he was a broke student who couldn't really afford to be there. He had just recently moved to Calgary from Nova Scotia and approached me for his friend. I quickly shut down his friend and got to talking with him. We parted that night with each others numbers. He called the next day, and we have been in love ever since.

Proposal:

This was very casual. My mum had been asking us about wedding dates quite persistently. One evening we were hanging out at home talking about it and Mike asked if I wanted to go look at rings (um...of course!) So off we went. Mike had his heart set on a particular ring and had to have it for me. In the car on the way home he says; "so you wanna be my wife?" How could I say no?

Mike's Favorite part:

My favorite part was walking into the reception. I was relieved to be married and excited about having fun and relaxing, partying with family and friends.

Claire's Favorite part:

How to narrow it down? The whole day was wonderful. Getting to marry my long time love is at the top of the list! I just loved having the opportunity to celebrate our relationship with all of our family and friends.

Ceremony Location: All Saints Anglican church, Cochrane
Reception Location: Beaupre Hall, Forestry Trunk Road

Dress: Ethos Bridal, 17th ave Calgary
Bridesmaid dresses: Victoria's Secret
Tuxes: Black and Lee Tuxedo

Hair: Angles in Tuscany, Calgary

Shoes: Aldo

Rings: Ben Moss

Flowers: Panda Flowers, Cochrane

Photography: Northridge Photography http://www.northridgephoto.com/

Ba da ba ba ba, I'm BlogLovin' it!

2010-10-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

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FRD - All that Sparkles - Lisa and Cam

2010-10-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Urban Vows' very first "Friday Real Deal" post! I figured, since I only actually conduct under 10 weddings per year for now (you know, since I work full time in oil and gas, work part time doing events at an art gallery, I am trying to finish up my event management certificate, have a child, boyfriend, friends etc. to attend to) I wanted to cover other weddings that are going on in and around the Calgary area. This is a great way to see what other couples are doing, especially for venue and vendor choice.

When I first chatted with Lisa about featuring her and Cam's wedding she was so willing and excited, and I can see why! A beautiful ceremony at St. Mary's Cathedral and a stunning and glamorous wedding hosted at the Calgary Zoo and photographed by the ever so talented Edward Ross (edwardrossphotography.com), no wonder she was ready to share!

Lisa had a few testing moments prior to the wedding, including a horror story with her dress - trust me brides, you may take back anything you have stressed about thus far in your planning after reading this!

Congratulations Lisa and Cam, all the best to you in your new life together!

Lisa and Cam’s Wedding
August 21, 2010

The overall theme/colour/feel for the wedding:
The colours were ivory and black with some bright pink and deep greens. Silver was also incorporated into the colour scheme. I wanted simple and elegant with some sparkle.

My dress was relatively simple with a sparkly brooch on the hip and one on the small of my back. Lea, the florist, added big chunky crystals to my bouquet to match the crystals on my shoes and Stacey, the designer, added sparkle to my birdcage veil to match the dress brooches and crystals to my garter to match the shoes. The groom wore a black suit, with an ivory vest and an ivory tie. He had a single ivory rose pinned to his jacket.

The bridesmaids wore fushia coloured dresses with silver shoes and ivory bouquets. The groomsman wore black suits, black vests and silver ties. They had three ivory spray roses on their jackets.

The linens were ivory and the chair covers were black with ivory sashes. The centre pieces were high cylindrical vases with ivory and green hydrangeas, green leaves and fuchsia roses at the bases with fern-like leaves, ivory roses and fuchsia flowers on stems jutting out of the top.

How we met:
Lisa and Cam met at Queen’s University in their second year of Chemical Engineering. Cam first saw Lisa in a chemical engineering lecture when he sat behind Lisa and her friends. Cam was instantly attracted to Lisa and, with the help of a friend, they met...first through msn...and then in class...
Lisa and Cam have been inseparable from that point on.

Proposal:
From Cam’s POV – It was a Saturday night and Lisa was out running some errands when I decided that it was the right night to propose. I started setting up the house; first I made a trail of rose pedals and candles from the front door to the top of the stairs where I placed one rose with a card which read “Past.” The card described how we had first met while at Queen’s University and some of the incredible memories I had from those first few months.

I continued the trail of rose pedals and candles to another rose and card which read “Present.” This card described how we moved from University to ‘Grown up’ life and all the amazing experiences and memories we had including the addition of our dog Tucker.

The trail of rose pedals and candles continued to outside our bedroom door where I placed the last rose and card which read “Future.” The card read, “I have no idea what the future holds but all I know is that I want you in it with me!” Inside the bedroom I made a giant heart shape with the remaining rose pedals.

I put on a suit making sure I had the ring and tried to get the dog into the bedroom with me to wait for Lisa. Unfortunately, this was the time I discovered Tucker was scared of candles and so I had to coax him into the room with a handful of cookies. He was more nervous in the room with the candles lit and nowhere to escape so he did what he always does when he gets nervous – drops himself to the ground with his bum in the air and rolls around. I heard the garage door open and desperately tried to re-create the heart shape while keeping the dog calm and by my side. I could hear Lisa getting close and when she finally opened the door Tucker and I were looking at her with the ring box between his paws.

Wedding Drama:
Stacey Roberts, designer and owner of Rose's Custom Sewing and Alterations in Ontario had sewn my dress to perfection back in May. I was told to get the dress steamed once back in Calgary to remove any wrinkles from the train of the dress that may have formed on the plane ride to Calgary. I took the dress to the Bridal Centre in Calgary and when I went to pick it up on the Thursday night before my wedding it was ruined!

The delicate, rounded shaped rouching in the bodice had been flattened by ironing it on a board - creating knife pleats and lines where there should not be lines. The stitches under the pleats holding up the rouching were now in plain site because they had been flattened and pulled out of the way so it looked like I had a row of buttons down the front of my dress. The rouching on the back of my dress was also flattened to knife pleats and seams were showing and some were seams were even ripped out. The most frustrating part was that the train was more wrinkled then when I brought the dress in (and removing the wrinkles from the train was the reason I brought it in).

I cried all night long and told everyone to start cancelling the wedding because my dress was not wearable. At 6:00am Friday morning, I called Stacey, (the perfectionist designer/sewer) told her what happened and begged to fly her from Ottawa to Calgary. She agreed to come and try to salvage the dress. Of course all the early and direct flights were booked so she did not get here until 9:00pm Friday night before the wedding. She took the whole dress apart, wet it down to remove the knife pleats, re-shaped the rouching and sewed it back together. It was not ready until 8am the morning of my wedding…….and I had not slept since Wednesday night. At least I had a dress!

Stacey stayed with me the entire day to ensure my dress was perfect all day long. It was amazing to have my own stylist at the photo shoot!

Lisa’s favorite part:
Since the wedding almost did not happen due to my dress being ruined, every part of the day was my favourite and I cherished every minute. I had the perfect dress, shoes, veil, garter, designer, florist/decorator, photographer and even perfect weather! Most of all I had the perfect groom to share the day with.

Cam’s favorite part:
Seeing Lisa enter the Church looking so beautiful and happy; it brought tears to my eyes instantly.

Ceremony Location: St. Mary's Cathedral
Reception Location: Tent at the Calgary Zoo

Dress: Rose's Custom Sewing & Alterations
http://www.rosescustomsewing.ca/

Custom veil and garter: Stiltskin's Spindle - Dresses Outside the Book
www.stiltskins.ca/

Shoes: Stuart Weitzman (Diamond Collection)

Rings: Tacori

Flowers/Decorations: Designing on the Edge
www.designingontheedge.com/

Photography: Edward Ross Photography
edwardrossphotography.com

Ready, Set, Charger Plates!

2010-08-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

Bubble Charger Plates (http://www.jafgifts.com/BUBBLE-CHARGER-PLATES_106522.html)

Words cannot describe my love for a good table arrangement at a wedding. As simple a task this may seem, it seriously takes some brain work. I usually like to think of a table in layers, and to me, like a cake, the more layers the better. Most venues throw in white or ivory linens, these are your standard white table cloths and napkins. I personally think even one additional linen or accessory can really add to the over look of the table, and therefore the overall feel of the entire space. Table runners, overlays, matching napkins and napkin rings all fall under this category. Charger plates are a whole category on their own.

Lime Green Charger Plates (http://beautifulblooms.com/blog/2010/04/davids-bar-mitzvah-part-2/)

The first time I really noticed charger plates was on "Wedded To Perfection", where Jung Lee used eyeball charger plates, I died! Wow, I thought it was just the coolest thing I had ever seen. Unfortunately I have searched the net far and wide for a picture of these, to no avail. I will keep trying.

Gold Charger Plates to compliment a Mardi Gras Theme (http://confessionsofaplateaddict.blogspot.com/2009/02/tablescape-thursdayora-mardi-gras.html)

Charger plates are generally placed at the table before guests arrive and meant to have china placed on top of them when the meal comes, almost like a place mat. They are typically not meant to be eaten of of, nor put in the dishwasher. They are considered more of a decor item than dishware.

A gorgeous glowing creation by Jun Lee of New York based event company, Fête (http://feteny.com/services/)

Charger plates, as beautiful as they are, will cost you a pretty penny if you're not much for shopping. Some wedding forums have discussions of women buying them in packages at Target, Superstore or Michael's. These will be acrylic and not glass, ceramic or wood, but they will cost you far less than buying these more expensive one's or renting them. Most rental places charge you starting at $3.25 a plate - add that up and you will see how much that is. Purchasing your own set of 100+ ceramic, wood, glass or metal charger plates will be even more than that, upwards of $60 per plate! Yikes! So what am I saying? Even if you hate shopping around, shopping for charger plates is worth it. I found several sites that sell them in multitudes of colours and textures in bulk, 24 plates for under $50! Now we're talking. Do not underestimate the power of online shopping, it could save you literally thousands on your wedding!

By the masters of all things event - New York based company, Fête (http://feteny.com/services/)

Now all the grooms-to-be are grumbling that their bride now needs "just one more thing" for their wedding to make it picture perfect! Sorry guys...but not really.

Eek! My favorite - a Bird Nest Charger from Pottery Barn (http://www.potterybarn.com/?cm_type=gnav)

Boozy Bride

2010-08-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

Photo credit: istockphoto

Don't. Be. A. Boozy. Bride. I know, I know, people who know me and are reading this will be thinking "well, isn't that strange advice for Brittany of all people to be giving", referencing my close relationship with red wine, tequila and vanilla vodka, but that's at OTHER people's weddings, not my own you sillies. Bottom line, this is one of the most magical days of your life and you will want to remember the special speeches people say to you, visiting with relatives you haven't seen in ten years and the sweet nothings your new husband whispers in your ear during dinner. Being completely inebriated at your own wedding is something that you cannot take back. Please know the difference between tipsy and hideously drunk.

I was at a wedding a few weekends ago, talking to the DJ and he was telling me about a bride who he DJ'd for the weekend before and she was so utterly intoxicated she was sick all over herself and had to be loaded into the back of pick up truck to be escorted home. Can you imagine leaving your wedding like that? Livestock was the one word that came to mind, ha ha...

But seriously, enjoy yourself, have some bubbly, a splash of wine but please oh please, do not be a Boozy Bride.

Dress Rehearsal

2010-08-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

{photo credit: http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/say-yes-to-the-dress/}

As much as people say cliché things like “it’s not about the wedding, it’s about the marriage” et al, really, if you have chosen to have a wedding, white dress, cake and music, the dress actually is one of the centerpieces of the big day. There are a few big things to keep in mind when wedding dress shopping.

{photo credit: http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/say-yes-to-the-dress/}

I PVR literally every episode of Say Yes to The Dress, whether they are reruns or not, as I just adore the team that works at Kleinfeld’s, they are truly masters in the business. I have learned a lot about dresses, designers, price tags, people and their bargaining ways, alterations and the do’s and don’ts at bridal salons and just some basic etiquette.

{photo credit: http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/say-yes-to-the-dress/}

Tip one – don’t expect your perfect dress to be off the rack. Plan for it to require ordering, this can take 6 months, and it does vary by store, then alterations and fittings once the dress arrives. If you wait until the last minute you will be charged for rush ordering.

Tip two – NEVER buy a dress that is way too small in hopes of losing weight. Unless you know a tried and true way to shed those pounds this is too risky and taking a dress in is less expensive and less destructive to the design of the dress than letting a dress out if you do not lose the weight. I was appalled recently at a bridal store here in town telling one of my brides to get the smaller size as she’ll lose the weight. No one knows this for sure and I thought of it as a very unprofessional suggestion. Also, pay no attention the numbered size on the dress – if you look and feel spectacular in the dress then that is the one – don’t fuss over whether it is a larger or smaller size than what you normally wear.

Tip three – I usually tell a bride to know the vision, theme and hopefully the venue to make sure the dress fits this overall theme. A ball-gown dress doesn’t really suit a wedding in a rustic barn.

Tip four - Have some kind of idea what you would like to look at. Neckline, hemline, colour, fabric, intricate or traditional, give something for the consultant to go on or you will be trying on the dresses all day, and they are a LOT of work to get in and out of.

Tip five - Never go into a bridal salon after the gym, after a night on the town, or when you are recovering for the flu. Try and look decent for this big occasion, maybe do your hair nice, put on some make-up and bring a pair of shoes similar to the one’s you are thinking of for your big day. It’s hard to visualize what you will really look like in that dress if you could be mistaken for Courtney Love.

Isn't Randy just the cutest thing!? I think it's a keeper!

{photo credit: http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/say-yes-to-the-dress/}

Walking in my Shoes

2010-08-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, so the title of this post was stolen from Depeche Mode, but it has nothing to do with their song. I am here to say, while you may not be judged by the shoes you choose to walk in on your wedding day, you certainly will be photographed in them! Fashion comes before comfort until the photo shoot has wrapped, so please make sure to choose wisely.

{photo credit: http://www.susanstriplingblog.com/}

My friend Danielle (she's a shoe junkie, check out her new blog: http://deathbyshoe.com/) just HAD to have something fabulous, and while I won't reveal a price tag on these babies, let's just say it'd be my electric, cellphone, cable and daycare bills all rolled into one, but really - can you tell me her stunning blue satin Christian Louboutin's aren't worth it? I believe she actually quoted that they were "the stars of the show", although I would like to think everyone else knew better! And here they are my friends:

Okay, so maybe they were the stars of the show! They were well captured anyways by Calgary photographer, Chelsea at Shutterbird Photography (http://www.shutterbird.ca/).

Footwear photo's are a huge trend in wedding photography right now and a wedding album is just not complete without a few whimsical shots of the kicks you have chosen. This post could literally go on for days with the number of incredible shoe shots out there, so I will choose just ten and count down to my all time favorite shot, it won't be easy but here it goes, enjoy my fashionista friends!

ten

{photo credit http://www.ourlaboroflove.com/}

Ah, an ode to cowtown, one of my favorite pairs of shoes in my closet are my cowboy boots. This photo is so gorgeous it has a light, vintage country feel to it, the chestnut boots complement the uniform blue dresses wonderfully, and unlike some other cowboy boot pictures I found, these are really showcased in a tea-length bridesmaid frock. Not only are these unique and photograph beautifully, they sure as heck are good for a whole night of dancing (I would know!).

nine

{photo credit: http://www.nataliemoserphotography.com/}

This pair of beautiful feet grabbed my attention, and I don't know if it was the reflective sheen of the grooms patent leather or the chic hippy satin shoes of the bride, but I love this shot. It was taken in Orange County by the very talented Natalie Moser. The wedding was outdoors with shades of green and purple, accented with black and white. Lovely shot, I love how the colours are tweaked just enough to get that warm summer haze feeling. Those shoes are to die for and I might need to go on a hunt for them when my time comes!

eight

{photo credit: http://www.susanstriplingblog.com/}

Susan Stripling lives in Brooklyn, New York and therefor shoots some in Brooklyn as well as all over the New York City area. Why do I mention this? Because I can't think of anything more modern or fashion forward than a New York bride! That being said, this photo with the reflection of the bride's gorgeous ivory satin peep toes is gorgeous, the fabric textures paired with an old family portrait are so vintage chic and I love the warm colours. A great creative view of the shoes the bride will wear while promising her life to her new husband.

seven

{photo credit: http://patricialyonsphotography.blogspot.com/}

No other favored shoe choice of mine will get me more grumbles than the love-to-hate UGG boot, but this is my blog and so I get to choose, he he. There is no other shoe in my closet I love more than my chocolate brown UGGS that Josh bought for me a few Christmases ago. They are cozy, soft and comfortable, and honestly, I actually don't think they are ugly at all. If I were to have a winter wedding there would be no other shoes I would rather wear than my beloved UGG boots, see how cute and cozy they look? Love them or loathe them, at least this bride will be band aid free by the end of the night!

six

{photo credit: http://www.pkphotovideo.com/}

Wow, what a bride to pick such a bubbly and very fittingly themed shoe for her big day! These are just about the cutest shoes I could imagine and Peter Kelk of Maldon, Essex photographed these hot little Vivienne Westwood numbers beautifully!

five

{photo credit: http://leodjphoto.com/}

I adore couples who don't take themselves or their wedding day too seriously, besides, it is about the couple, who they are as a team and who they will be as they grow old together. These timeless and oh so comfy Converse sneaks make for a happy bridal party and fun and whimsical images of the big day.

four

{photo credit: http://gabrielryan.blogspot.com}

My obsession with the apple green wedding shoe began long ago when I started seeing shoes in the bridal scene that were different from the traditional white or ivory. For a long time I thought apple green shoes would do it for me on my big day, who knows really as I change my mind about colour palette's every day, but this image is just gorgeous. You can sense calm, yet a great anticipation of what's to come, just with the slight bend of the ankles.

three

{photo credit: http://blog.halbergphotographers.com/}

In the last few years, feathers have taken the wedding industry by storm. Fascinators are the must have item, clutches with peacock feathers adorning them, huge plumes of ostrich feather bouquets as centerpieces and even the wedding dress industry has caught the feather fever creating fun and floaty wedding gowns. One thing I have not seen a lot of yet is feathers hanging out on shoes. This may be because of the impracticality of keeping feathers clean, but it is after all "just one day" as everyone will keep reminding you!

two

{photo credit: http://www.klkphotography.com/}

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Well these gorgeous, vintage inspired pumps can take care of several of these items! Not only are these a fun and bright colour, coordinating with the satin ribbon on her bouquet, but they are a lower heel so the comfort factor is there, which is always an issue. Buying fancy, expensive shoes is one thing, but keeping them on is another! I think this bride did a great job in choosing her peep toes!

one

{photo credit: http://www.jenstewartphotography.com}

Well, here it is - the number one image in wedding footwear that I found. I chose this pair of "glass slippers" because I find it the epitome of a little girl dreaming to one day to be just like Cinderella and find her Prince Charming. While they may not be breathable or even very comfortable, they sure do make for a beautiful shot and quite the statement on your big day.

Well, there you have it, my top ten (actually, eleven if you count Danielle's pretties!) wedding shoes and wedding shoe images. As you can see, not all of these are big designer labels, that is not always what counts. Sometimes it's just a vibrant colour or hypnotic pattern that will make you know that pair of shoes is "the one".

Mr. and Mrs. Hopp

2010-07-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

~"May your troubles be less, and your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door."~

Kelly has always been like another big sister to me. I have two older sisters, but I think over the past ten years we've spent more time in different cities than living in the same city, and although my own sister's are my best friends, it was always nice to have someone around supervising our weekend activities back in high school.

Kel is the older sister of two of my very closest friends, Fiona and Sinead and the daughter of someone I consider my second mom, Yvonne. They are a wonderful family and all seem to share the same heart - when one hurts they all hurt and when one is happy, they all have huge smiles on their faces. This was one of those occasions, the girls were gaining an older brother and Yvonne, a son. Kelly was marrying her Prince Charming, as she referred to him in her speech. Brad is just an awesome guy and I can tell that him and our Kelly will have a long, exciting and very happy life with one another.

Brad and Kelly both love adventure and the outdoors and when they were going to choose venues they ventured out to beautiful British Columbia. Initially they were thinking a winery, maybe near Kelowna, but after staying at the Panorama Mountain Village, they knew they had found the spot, and what an amazing location they chose. It is this magical, sunny little village in the middle of the mountains and is totally self contained. They have shops, restaurants, pools, beautiful accommodations and lots to do for those who like outdoor activities. The staff there were so friendly and helpful, many of them from overseas, Australia, New Zealand and England seemed to be common and they were always offering to assist in anything they saw me doing.

The day of the wedding was gorgeous and sunny with blue skies. The ceremony site was stunning, right beside Toby Creek, a rushing crystal blue mountain stream that runs alongside the road leading up to the village. Being Irish, U2 seems to be a favorite in this clan so Kelly and Yvonne walked down the aisle to All I Want is You. Brad was overwhelmed and teary eyed as he saw his beautiful bride to be walk down the aisle. The entire time I was snapping photo's the two were grinning from ear to ear, and looked as though they only saw each other.

The reception was held in the Ski Lodge and was a perfect match for their theme and colours, rustic, natural, greens and blues. Kelly saved various glass jars and bottles for months and decorated them in ribbon and lace and had the florist fill them with a variety of natural looking greens and flowers. Darby, their adorable Cairn Terrier, was represented in frames for the table numbers. The candy buffet was enormous and again, Kelly made sure to have it colour coordinated with blues and greens and included her very favorite treat, Galaxy bars.

The guest mix was wonderful, and included 14 family members all the way from Ireland and one friend of Yvonne's from England, and does that gang ever know how to party. They shut the place down singing and dancing. The speeches were touching and Kelly's words to Yvonne brought everyone to tears, as it is widely known what a spectacular mother she has been to her three beautiful daughters. Slideshow's are always a great way to tie in the earlier lives of the bride and groom and show how they merged their lives together, this one also show cased some rather, um, unique photo's of both of them. Gotta love the 80's and 90's!

My absolute favorite moment of the day came when some of the Irwin School of Dance students performed traditional Irish dancing and dragged Kelly up. Acting coi and surprised I was wondering what she would do, until I spotted her dance shoes on her feet. Kelly surprised everyone, especially her new husband by Irish dancing in her wedding dress. To see Brad's reaction to this was amazing, and me, as the planner, I never get surprised by anything and this was such a treat.

Kelly and I share a lot of personality traits and planning this was so enjoyable as we agreed on everything and I saw her vision perfectly. The venue fit the theme, the party fit the family, and Kelly and Brad fit one another absolutely perfectly. Love you guys!

Mr. and Mrs. Yarwood

2010-07-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

Well, the day had finally arrived. After months of planning, numerous coffee, wine, lunch and tea dates, countless emails and phone calls Ali and Graham's big day was here and for the first time in weeks, the Calgary sun was shining.