bradyandstacey's biography
HOW WE MET
We met in Victoria, BC through mutual friends Michael and Patrick.
I was attending UVic as a student of the Theatre Department. Mike and Pat were classmates and over the course of first year we became friends. At the end of first year university in 2003, another theatre student was having a birthday. Mike and Pat decided to bring their good friend Brady along, for the party.
The moment I saw Brady, I told my girlfriend "He's Mine!" Brady and I spent the evening chatting, getting to know eachother. I had asked Brady if he was available, and very nicely he declined as at the time Brady was in a relationship. Unsure if we'd ever meet again, at the end of the night I said goodbye, in hopes that we had at least formed a friendship, since he was such a nice, sincere and fun-loving guy.
We didn't see eachother for the entire summer. September 2003 came around and it was Pat's birthday. Pat offered to pick me and my friend up to take us downtown for dinner at Milestone's. To my surprise and delight Brady was the driver and he had come along for the party. The best part of course was that he was available! We spent the night, talking, flirting and dancing, you couldn't tear us apart. It was Love!
A week or so later, Pat invited me and my friend over to his house to watch a movie, and lo-and-behold Brady was there! Pat sat me right next to Brady, and turned off the lights for the horror movie. I took every chance I had to snuggle closer to Brady as the movie got scarier! Brady drove me home later that night, and asked for my phone number. I didn't have a pen or paper on me so I told him that Mike and Pat would have my number.
Another week or so went by and no word from Brady. Apparantly Mike and Pat didn't have my phone number. Brady finally managed to get my phone number from one of my friends and called me the next day at 7:30am to ask me out on a date!
After about a month or so of dates we became exclusive on October 4th, 2003. Unfortunatly, Brady had to move back to Vancouver at the beginning of Decemeber 2003. And so starts the long distance part of our relationship. Seeing eachother every second week, we stayed together for two years before we just couldn't take it anymore and Brady moved back down to Victoria to be with me in 2005. We then moved to Vancouver, BC after I got offered a job promotion in 2008.
And the rest is history!
^_^
PROPOSAL STORY - Written from Fiance's Perspective
It happened on Stacey's 25th birthday, July 27th, 2009.
The day started off with Stacey leaving for work. She had been working really hard and was looking forward to a nice romantic birthday evening when she got off work.
It's tradition for me to get Stacey a boquet of flowers and make her an origami birthday card. When she got home and opened the door, none of these things were there. I then took her out for dinner at Milestones, the restaurant chain where we fell in love. It was a nice romantic dinner.
I then took her to Stanley park for a nice walk along the waterfront with our dog Bean. We enjoyed the walk in the sunset. Stacey kept eyeing me hoping that there was some sort of birthday gift to come. She had started asking me if I had gotten her a cake, or a card, and I didn't answer.
We proceeded to go home, and picked up a birthday cake of her choosing. When we got home, Stacey was down right upset. She was so upset that I hadn't gotten her anything for her birthday. She went to bed and was pouting like crazy. I had to cox her out of the bedroom. I finally told her that she did have a birthday surprise, and that I wasn't able to sneak it out of the house. She then looked around the room, and said "what?! where?! I don't see anything, your just kidding, trying to make me feel better!" I then went into the bedroom and called in our dog Bean. From the living room I hear Stacey exclaim "Your just going to put those christmas antlers on his head aren't you, that's not gonna make me feel any better!"
I slipped the ring on Bean's collar and sent him out to Stacey. He jumped on the couch and sat up beside her. She started petting him and just stared at me blankly. I told the dog to give her a kiss and when he did she saw the sparkling ring on his collar.
"YOU'RE KIDDING RIGHT!.... REALLY!?" I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. I barley got the words out before she jumped up screaming and crying "YES YES OF COURSE YES! REALLY?! YES!"
As we have been dating for so long, had I pulled out all the stops she would have expected something, ruining the surprise. I love surprising her, as she loves them so and because she loves them it makes it that much harder to surprise her.
I was so excited when I found out we could book our DREAM photographer!
I won boudoir photography from her at a Wedding fair back in January 2010. It was July 2010 before we took the b-pics but after her professionalism during the shoot and after I saw the results I knew she HAD to be our photographer!
She is such an amazing talent and an amazing person. We feel so comfortable around her and her shooting partner / fiance, they feel like family! I highly recommend Katya Nova Photography! She does destination weddings too, so even if you don't live in Canada check out her website!
For our engagement session we decided to do a classy 1950s inspired shoot in Vancouver, BC's Gastown. My dress was a christmas gift from FI, and was made by udreamybridal.com (a vendor I really recommend if you need a dress or gown on a budget!)
I think the photos came out great (even though Fi's cousin thinks we did a Prince William & Kate Middleton inspired shoot, even though we were trying to be totally original!)
Meet Our Furbaby Bean. He's our little chihuahua. We were out for a walk and came across a guy who was taking a litter of chihuahua puppies for a walk. We stopped talked with him and found out the puppies were for sale. One puppy just loved me and didn't want to leave me. So... that was it we had to have him!
Meet Bean
OUR WEDDING PHILOSOPHY
"Elegant but within our means..."
OUR THEME
But I guess yoOur theme happened sort of organically. We didn't really know what we wanted but eventually its turned out we have a sort of "FLOURISH" / "DAMASK" Theme
OUR COLOURS
OUR SIGNATURE FLOWER
The Ceremony took place at Milner Gardens in Qualicum, BC.
Everyone thought my Dad was going to be such a cry baby that they put a tissue box on his chair! You can also see the DIY ribbon wand that I made too!
The reception took place at theItalian Hall in Port Alberni, BC
SAVE-THE-DATES We ordered our save-the-dates from www.magnetstreet.com, and sent them out at the beginning of December. NOTE TO BRIDES PLANNING ON DOING THIS.... Magnets stick together and can stick to the inside of mail-boxes, trucks etc... We actually had a few
guests that didn't received their magnet, because it has stuck to another guest's envelope! INVITATIONS
Exactly 4 months away from the wedding and the invitations are DONE! It was a labour of love but I feel like they came out really good.
I don't know why my camera won't take a good picture of the colour but the paper is a gorgeous metallic eggplant colour. Now I just have to address the envelopes and send them out! The invitation itself and the RSVP card is from the Gartner Studios Bride Kit, that I cut down to size to fit the pocket-folds I used the following to make the invites:
MONOGRAM
This is our official Monogram. I made it using Adobe Photoshop.
We are putting this on various stationary items, invitations, ceremony programs, favor tags etc... Monograms are a great way of personalizing your wedding and with a little practice are easy to make.
We actually made a custom stamp of our monogram using www.rubberstamps.net. I highly recommend them as they were quick, professional, and the outcome of the product was fantastic. See our invitations to see how the stamp turned out!
TABLE NUMBERS
I purchased the frames Ikea and I spray painted them purple, with the Violet Spray Paint from Michaels.
I then cut out the number shapes in the purple cardstock, and then put a sparkly black cardstock behind the silver one to create a contrast colour and a layered effect.... SUPER HARD ON YOUR HANDS!
CAKE TABLE LETTERS
I purchased these from Michaels and spray painted them silver, and used quick dry adhesive glue to add the bling!.
The "I DO" will be on the ceremony program table at the ceremony
The "WE DID" will either be on the guestbook table or the cake table
RIBBON WANDS
Big shout out to MissHammy for her great DIY instructions on these puppies! I think they'll look super cute in photos! We only made enough basically for the people on the aisle seats. I got the ribbon from Michaels and the Balloon straws from the Party Bazaar in Vancouver.
BRIDESMAID JEWELLERY
I went to a local bead store to learn how to string these properly, it is actually super easy to string pearls. I got the pearls from a wholesale pearl website www.cnepearls.com, and then I used silk bead cord and a sterling silver clasp. The earrings I'm going to have my friend make into dangle earrings as i'm not very good with wire work.
STRAW FLAGS
Very easy DIY, All you need is cardstock, straws and double sided tape.
PAPER CRANES
Brady spent HOURS folding these. We were planning on using all 300 but I think we only ended up using about 100 to hang from the celing as we just ran out of time.
OUR TABLES IN ACTION
Head Table
Guest Tables
PLANNING PROCESS
This is a very, very, very basic mock-up of our table scape, using a white blanket and a coffee table. LOL don't laugh! The tables are rectangular banquet tables, we are putting two of them together to create a larger "squarish" table.
There is going to be three separate small arrangments as pictured, except with purple water pearls lit up but sumbersible LEDs, and then we are putting fresh greenery into the centerpiece ! ^_^ I don't know why the image shows the pearls as blue, because they are clearly purple in real life.
- I purchased the damask table runners from www.efavormart.com
- The flowers were purchased from Costco we got 15 bunches of 2 doz.
- I purchased LED submersible lights and purple water beads from www.100candles.com
- The candles have a flocked damask pattern on them, and we purchased them from various dollar stores.
- The table number I DIY'd
- The table linens are going to be white, and we rented them from the reception hall.
Close up of the centerpiece We used 6 roses for each vase. Five on the edges and one in the middle.
Table numbers
Place-card holders, they actually ring! Kissing Bells! Purchased from a local dollar store. We are putting them at the ends of each table as we don't want to TELL people which exact seats they need to be in. We are having a table number board in the lobby that will direct them to the correct table.
Napkins
17" x 17" EGGPLANT POLYESTER NAPKINS, that I purchased from www.linentablecloth.com, I purchased 180 of them. I'm crossing my fingers the colour comes out right, the reviews seemed to be really positive on the colour.
**Update, The napkins are SO PERFECT, the colour is amazing!
MY BOUQUET IN ACTION
Done by Quality Foods in Qualicum Beach, BC.
My boquet smelled SO GOOD! I think it was the Peonies! I had purchased 5 silk cream color anemones from www.afloral.com, and supplied the florist with the pink spray roses (we purchased these from costco for our centerpieces and thought it would be nice to tie them into my bouquet) The rest of the flowers were; Peonies, cream roses, cream hydrangea.
The Brooch was my something borrowed / blue / old (from my mom.)
INSPIRATION
My Bouquet is going to look exactly (or as close as possible) like this bouquet. I am supplying the florist with silk anemones as they are are delicate flower when cut and there is a strong possibility they will be out of season by the end of June, (unless we continue to have a very cold spring)
These are the silk anemones that I ordered from www.afloral.com
BRIDESMAIDS BOQUETS IN ACTION
The Bridesmaids Boquets came out really nice. The hydrangea wasn't quite the colour I was expecting, but still happy with out they turned out. They had 3 silk purple anemones that I ordered from www.afloral.com and had Purple lisianthus, and lavender hydrangea.
INSPIRATION
This idea but less Anemones and more lisianthus
These are the silk Anemones I also purchased from afloral.com
GROOM's BOUT IN ACTION
A family friend assembled them for me. She also put a pink spray rose from my bouquet with his boutioneer. I was origianlly worried they'd be too big but I think it came out just right.
GROOMSMEN's BOUT IN ACTION
CORSAGES
The moms and grandmothers had Cymbidium Orchid wrist corsages. The florist is lightly tinted the orchids so they were more of a lavender colour. Word of warning, have some paper towl handy to blot them dry, as ours was wet and the colour was coming off on our hands. Luckily nothing got onto any clothing, and once they are dry the colour stays just fine.
The moms and Grandmother's were all the same.
OTHER BOUTONNIERES
The Dads and grandfathers matched their spouses with Cymbidium orchid boutonnieres, also tinted lightly lavender.
The pastor had a simple white rose boutonniere, with some greenery.
ALTER ARRANGEMENTS
We used the white stands from the gardens and my mom just purchased some hanging baskets of purple 1000 bells, then removed the hook. I think they were a nice subtle touch. It wasn't as elaborate as I had envisioned but the view was so beautiful we didn't really need much else.
RECEPTION ARRANGEMENTS
My Mom and I found these FANTASTIC purple vases at WINNERS and our family friend (that did the bouts) arranged the flowers for us. She used some artificial Peonies and Dogwoods that my mom bought from michaels ages ago, and then used the left over white and pink roses from our centerpieces. The greenery is chalel she cut from her garden.
THE BRIDESMAID DRESSES
Here are the BM dresses in Action!
FINDING THE BM DRESSES
YAY! Dresses finally picked! We are going with a local bridal salon that custom makes dresses, Style Bridal in Vancouver BC. (No Website)
The girls have actually all chosen the same style. An empire waist chiffon dress with a sweetheart neck. The dress will be in a deep eggplant coloured chiffon and the beading under the bust is going to be silver. Some girls will have straps, some will keep it strapless.
The purple is the material the dresses will be made out of. The silver material is the pashmina each girl will wear, and then of course their silver pearl necklace!
THE JEWELLERY!
For jewellery the girls will be wearing silver grey shell pearl necklaces, with matching dangle earrings. This is part of their gift!
I strung the pearls myself with silk pearl thread, and the clasps are Sterling Silver, Total cost $12 each! The Fiance and I are thinking about starting up an ETSY shop to sell these. They came out so nice!
BRIDESMAID GIFTS
- Silver Pashminas
- Shell Pearl Necklaces & Earrings (see above)
- Glamnoir compacts mirrors plated in 14 karat gold for MOHs and
- Black Compacts that looks similar to the MOHs' for the rest of the bridesmaids
- Monogramed Jewellery Rolls
The Groomsmen wore Black Tuxedos from Black & Lee with silver vests, tie and pocket square. Their boutioneers were silk anemones I ordered from Aloral.com and a friend assembled them.
THE DRESS ON THE BIG DAY
GETTING INTO THE DRESS
THE SHOE SHOT
THE FIRST LOOKS
Seeing myself for the first time in my full bridal look
My Mom seeing me for the first time in the full ensemble.
My Dad seeing me for the first time in full ensemble
DH seeing me for the first time
DH seeing me for the first time (up close), can you see his red eyes? That's cause he Bawled the whole time!
BRIDAL PICTURES
I actually didn't get as many shots of these as I'd like, but that's okay, I like having DH with me in the photos!
THE PLANNING PROCESS!
THE VEIL
This was my very first wedding purchase and it wasn't planned at all. I was in a bridal shop that was closing out, looking for a dress to wear to my MOH's wedding as I was her MOH and was told I could get whatever dress I wanted as long as it was brown. So my mom and I went into this close-out sale and couldn't find any dresses. So our eyes wandered over to the bridal section (even though I wasn't engaged at this point) I was a bad girl and tried on one dress, (you'll get the full story on that a little later on) as well as a veil. The veil was so beautiful, I had never seen anything like it, and it was marked down from $350 to $60, I couldn't say no! So I bought the veil a full seven months before i was even engaged!
THE DRESS
I AM SO IN LOVE WITH MY DRESS! IT'S EVERYTHING I EVER IMAGINED IN MY DRESS! It's not what I had expected to buy though.
For those of you who don't know the whole story....
Just like all little girls when they dreamed about their wedding day, I wanted a pouffy, sparkly wedding dress fit for a princess! As time goes by, tastes change, I thought I wanted something more simple, elegant, clean and modern.
By chance I fell in love with a jim hjelm ages ago, I even tried it on before I was officially engaged! At the time I thought it was THE DRESS. So I waitied and finally when I was officially engaged I went and tried the dress on again. It wasn't the way I remembered it, so I continued to try on some more dresses.
Then I found Jim Hjelm 8857, a simple trumpet dress with a sash and no embellishment. Alot simpler than I had envisioned. So I got my mom to come to town to see me in it, I was so excitied!!!! She loved it as well, but encouraged me to try on more dresses.
LOL so THEN I tried on Jim Hjelm 8597 again, WE LOVED IT! I was twirling around in the store, giggling like crazy. My mom was going OOOHHH AHHH! It was so fabulous we thought we had found the dress. But the price was ALOT over $5000, about $2000 more than my absolute maximum budget. So we decided to keep looking as we had another appointment that day at a different salon. This would be the dress we would compare all others to.
The appointment at the other salon went terribly, horrible service, horrible dresses. My heart was excited by the fact nothing came close to the jim hjelm we were in love with, but then it sank, because we knew we couldn't afford it. We are walking back to our car and saw another HUGE bridal shop called LISA'S BRIDAL. We weren't expecting to be allow to look at anything as we didn't have an appointment, but the salespeople were more than accommodating and encouraged us to come in and try stuff on. The selection they had was fantastic! There were lots of beautiful dresses that were elegant and in my price range. I started picking up dresses to try on and giving them to my mom to take to the dressing room. The third dress I picked up I knew it was the one. But I kept looking and picking out other dresses so I wouldn't be biased.
I started trying on the dresses loving lots of them but saving the one that caught my eye on the rack to try on in the middle. Well... i knew it was the one on the rack, and I knew it was the dress when i put it on. But despite that I forced myself to finish trying on a few more. I finally reached the end of my pile of dresses and went back to the one i loved. The sales associate told me that the dress was a sample and that they couldn't order another. This was because it was a "ONE-OF-A-KIND" sample, which she proceeded to tell me meant it never went into true production, and was likely the run-way dress. Well... that cinched it! So I bought her right away!
I have my sparkly, somewhat pouffy princess dress, but I still find it elegant and modern at the same time. Funny how I was able to mix my little girl dreams with my modern day tastes!
Isabel
FI will wore a black tuxedo from BLACK & LEE
His jacket and pants were the same as the groomsmen, two-button, satin lapel. Black Vest and Black Bowtie. Pocket square and shirt were ivory.
FI's ring is a custom made Platinum and 18 karat yellow gold Tiffany replica.
It took a really long time for me to figure out what I wanted for my ring. As I work in the jewellery industry I see rings all the time and therefore was very very very very picky! Well I finally made a decision with my Fi and My ring is also being custom made by the same jeweller that is making FI's. It is an eternity band in platinum with round brilliant diamonds, and milgrain edging, 2.5mm wide. My ring will be solid on the inside (no holes) so that we can do engraving. (My ring will not have the engraving shown in this picture, but this was the picture the jeweller used as a reference)
OUR CAKE
It tasted AMAZING!
THE INSPIRATION
Our wedding cake is being made by "Cakes by Barb" of Port Alberni. Barb has been making wedding cakes since before I was even born. Its amazing what she does out of her home and her prices are fantastic.
We are getting a MONSTROSITY of a cake. Its going to take SEVEN separate layers of cake to make this look, but It will be well worth it, and there will be lots of left-overs for the gift opening!
- Its a chocolate / vanilla marble cake with alternating layers of bavarian cream and whipped chocolate filling, with a butter cream icing, with fondant on the top.
- The "tall" tier will have silver piping inspired by our monogram and flourishes on our invitations.
- The bottom tier will have our monogram piped in silver.
- The ribbons on the cake will be exactly the same as pictured, colour and everything
- She is also putting a purple flower on the cake similar to the one pictured
- She is supplying a cake stand similar to the one pictured, except she is going to put purple flowers around the base.
This took along time to figure out but we are really happy with idea.
We are giving our guests 5 Anemone bulbs each, that they can plant in their garden. I'll also include planting and care instructions on a little card.
Anemones are our signature flower and they bloom in late spring (early June) usually in our wedding month. So we thought what better way to say thank you to our guests and remind them of the good times they had at our wedding then to give them flowers that will come back in their garden every year.
I ordered the bulbs from www.BulbsDirect.com they are a supplier based out of Holland and offers free shipping to the United States, although it does take three weeks. Well I don't live in the US, so I had to use BONGO to get a US shipping address.
I just ordered them recently, i'll update my bio once i've received them. I'm expecting them by the end of April.
This is what the flowers will look like when they bloom.
The next step will be deciding how to package them. Favor Boxes? Wrapped in Tulle / Cellophane? I'll keep you ladies posted.
YAY My first shower is on April 30th! FAIL (ha ha future aunt in law) is throwing a shower for me! I just picked up this dress from Winners to wear. I wanted something fun and bright. I was thinking of going for white but I figured I could wear this again!
I picked up this dress for my May 14th Bachelorette Party, from BEYOND THE RACK, I'm not sure if i'll wear it though depending on what kind of activities my Bridesmaids have planned for me. If i don't wear it to the Bachelorette I think it will make a great dress for work.
Some photos from the Bachelorette
My Cousin is also throwing me a shower on May 22nd so now I need to find a dress for that... Hum... what to do for this one?
Well i don't even know how to begin, other than the days leading upto the wedding I was totally exhausted. The hall set up, rehersal, and rehearsal dinner all went smooth, but it was all so much happening at once that I was totally drained by the end of the day. I did manage to get a good night sleep, but woke up feeling totally exhausted and almost sick, and with my monthly visitor that was NOT expected, despite just having it two weeks before and being on the pill. JUST GOES TO SHOW WHAT STRESS CAN DO!
The weather was also SUPER iffy, my photographer texted me a pic from the ceremony site at 8am in the morning showing torential rain! But THANKFULLY the rain cleared up at 9am, and by 2pm the weather was gorgeous! Sunny with some clouds and nice and warm and everything was dry! It was a freakin' miracle I tell you!
The salon appointments went great. I decided to wear my hair down instead of up which i'm very pleased i made that decision! We were pretty much right on time for everything, except when we got to the gardens, my dress took ALOT longer to steam than I expected, and we started the ceremony about 15 minutes late.
The ceremony was like a dream, Brady started balling the minute he saw me and continued to cry throughout the entire ceremony, and for most of the day! LOL I was losing it when I was walking down the aisle and saying my vows, but managed to hold it together pretty good (no ugly face cry!) And my Dad did much better than expected too, he still cried, but he didn't sob as we were expecting!
Apparently after we were declared Husband and Wife a monarch butterfly flew right in between us and followed us to the marriage licence. Then as we walked down the aisle as husband and wife, Eagles started screeching! I didn't catch any of this but it was all the guests could talk about.
Pictures went really well in the gardens, we then went to Qualicum Beach to grab a bite to eat and do some more photos. Then we rushed back to Port Alberni, and picked up my dog from my parents place so we could get a few photos with our little beany! This made us about 45 mins late to the reception.
As soon as we got to the reception we started dinner right away since we were so late. We even forgot to get the minister to say grace! OOPS! Everything after that went really smooth. Not a single hitch, the speeches were great, the dance lessons really paid off. My Jimmy Choo shoes got TOTALLY TRASHED, so now i'm on the hunt for a good shoe repair place.
It was a really perfect day, I couldn't ask for a more perfect day. I"m still on cloud nine and i'm so happy to be a Mrs. married to my Mr. Right!
Our Fabulous photographer KATYA NOVA posted some amazing teasers for us the day of the wedding!
YAY our fantastic photographer Katya Nova just blogged some of our wedding photos!
HOORAY
THE CEREMONY
My brother walking mom to her seat
DH's parents walking to their seats
DH and pastor (DH looking a little nervous! ^_^ )
The Grand Entrance
POST CEREMONY BLISS!
PORTRAITS
BRIDAL PARTY
Hello Ladies
I thought I should take some time to reflect on the wedding process and give you ladies some tips and personal advice. My wedding planning experiance was really positive thanks to PW but there are also mistakes I made that I hope other brides won't make for their wedding.
LADIES-IN-WAITING
My advice to ladies in waiting (aka waiting for the bling) is for you to relax... take your time. I was waiting, waiting, waiting, for DH to propose for years! I drove myself nuts planning a "would-be wedding" and I can tell you from experiance that nothing that I planned during those years went into our actual wedding. If you know you are going to marry the man your with, the man of your dreams, things will happen when the timing is right. Its great to start planning out your big day, getting ideas you like, but be prepared for ideas to change when the bling actually gets on your finger. Current styles / trends may change drastically if you start planning too soon, and you may find yourself spending moneyBudgets may not be what you hoped they would be, family issues may prevent certain things from happening etc... so don't be dissapointed if your "pre-engagement wedding dreams" change. No matter what you will have a beautiful wedding, and there is no sence in stressing yourself out. Just enjoy your time with your Boyfriend (hopefully soon FI) for now, the planning will come later.
BRIDES-TO-BE
It is easier said than done.... but relax, don't sweat the small stuff. Looking back on the planning experiance, there were several times I was so stressed I made myself sick. In the long run the stress amounted to nothing except wasted time and emotions.
1 year is more than enough time to plan a wedding. For you girls that are contemplating having a long engagement in order to have more time to plan... you don't need it. I had 2 years to plan and its is probably my only regret of the wedding. Because I had so much time to plan, our theme, or design, our colours changed a billion times, I wasted about 1 year on the internet searching for ideas that I never ended up using. Plus alot of money was wasted on wedding items that I thought I would use, only to change my mind and go a different route. Also when looking at my wedding images now, our wedding was basically put together in less than a year in terms of all the stuff we ended up using. If you are going to have a long engagement and insist on starting the planning process right away, don't purchase anything until you know 100% that is your theme and stick to it. Focus on the big things first like venue, photographer, food etc... then take a break for a few months or more and then sweat the small stuff later. My DH also says this is his biggest regret as well, he wanted the two year engagement so we could take our time, but now realizes it was totally un-necessary.
If you are having a problem with one of your vendors don't be afraid to confront them or kick them to the curb if necessary. It is your day and you don't want to feel uncomfortable with one of you vendors. This is especially important for your photographer. I highly reccomend to hire 2 of your favorite photographers for an engagement session only. Then after you recieve the images make a decision. You'll feel more confidant in your photographer and you'll know that they'll deliver. But this goes with any vendor, test out their services before you sign any paperwork.
The most important thing is you are marrying the love of your life, and you are making a commitment to be together for the rest of your lives. The fancy decor, favors, DIYs, attire, etc... are all secondary. Focus on your vows, the ceremony, the actual part that binds you together as husband and wife. If you have a beautiful meaningful ceremony you will be on cloud 9 the rest of the day. Take time during your engagement to spend with your FI and bask in the bliss of engagement.
If you feel like you are having a wedding meltdown, take some down time, away from planning, away from wedding stuff and even away from PW if necessary. Relax, do something that you love, a sport, a hobby, or just hang with the girls and make a "no wedding" rule for the day. You'll feel energized and ready to tackle the wedding stuff full on later.
These sites are affordable, reputable and I highly reccomend them!
- www.afloral.com - For artificial Flowers
- www.efavormart.com - For tablerunners
- www.100candles.com - For submersible LEDs, waterbeads, vases, votives, etc... AWESOME!
- www.linentablecloth.com - For unusual colored linens, fantastic quality and prices!
- www.cardsandpockets.com - Makes DIY pocketfolds a breeze and amazing ribbon!
- www.vistaprint.com - great for save-the-dates, thank you cards etc...
- www.magnetstreet.com - great for magnet save-the-dates!
- www.udreamybridal.com - great if you need an inexpensive wedding gown, TTD, or Bridesmaid dresses
- www.edressit.com - Amazing dresses, great for bridesmaids, engagement party, bachelorette party etc...
Hooray! Our Photobook from Photobook Canada (Photobook America) arrived today! And I must say i'm very very very pleased with the outcome and quality of the book!
We ordered the Professional series XL with the Pewter Buckrum Cover. Pictures don't really do it justice its a really nice dark grey colour with a hint of shimmer. *We wanted to be different instead of just getting the leather, and I blurred out our last names FYI**
The paper is really nice and thick and has a really nice quality to it I believe it 210gr. The pictures are blurry I know, its just my camera!
The print quality is very good as well and very true to colour. We used High res images from our photographer and had no problems getting them printed full page spread 17.5" x 12" which is actually REALLY BIG, I love the size but at the same time I almost wish I ordered the size one step down.
The software was really easy to use and the printed results really is true to your layout. I highly reccomend saving your book as proofs and REALLY scrutinizing them before placing your order. This was a life saver as the proofs showed me little tweaks I needed to make to each page. The only thing I didn't like is that once you choose which book / size you want to do your project in you cannot order it in another size / style of book. I realized too late that 17.5 was massive but I spent so much time on editing it I couldn't bear to start over from scratch.
Overall I'm very very very pleased and would order from Photobook again. (in fact I already ordered our engagement photos in a photo book as well!)
