On August 8th, we had the pleasure of doing day of coordination for Lesley and Vince. A most incredible couple, who had the most perfect wedding (with all the weddings I've attended/done, I actually teared up during their ceremony - it was so lovely).
We had the most wonderful opportunity to team up with some amazing vendors for this event - The Staff at the Oliver Bonaccini restaurant Jump on Wellington St in Toronto. What fantastic and attentive staff. They made my job seem so easy! So competent, and so courteous, these are career service industry people who take pride in what they do, ever single moment of the day. Can't say enough about the staff, can't say enough wonderful things about the food (I'm making my husband take me on a big beautiful date night one day when I'm finally off this diet, and the star of the evening will be this place). Such a wonderfully intimate and urban venue for a fabulous contemporary wedding!
Sounds of Distinction (Dan Forbes), who actually dj'd my own wedding in 2007 did an incredible job that Saturday. I can't say enough to refer his services! He is the best referral ever!
And we had the pleasure of seeing Irina and Mihkel of Irina Photography in action. What a great pair, and so in tune with catching the perfect moments, and weaving a beautiful pictorial story for a new bride and groom. Again, please read this as a big old referral for such wonderful photographers! Way to go Dan, Irina and Mihkel!
Irina sent me a sneak peek of Lesley and Vince's big day, and what justice it does to their memories. Please enjoy this sneak peek of Irina and Mihkel's work for the most lovely couple!
http://irinaphotography.squarespace.com/journal/2009/8/19/lesley-vince-wedding-preview.html
Congratulations once again Lesley and Vince!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Busy Week!
It's been a very busy week for us here - and somewhat of an emotional ride at the same time.
Finally, the reason Amy reached out to me in the first place. Amy and Wil wanted a photo station where they could take photographs with their guests, and where their guests could take photos throughout the night. What they didn't want however, was the standard photo booth, or a photographer's stock screen. They wanted something different and substantial enough to fill in a large empty space of their venue foyer. Sitting with them, and bringing as many creative ideas to the table as possible, we came up with the design below with an aim of playing up the garden atrium signature of Le Parc in Thornhill. We incorporated the bride's silk rose centrepiece and substituted a garden bench for the three covered venue chairs, and voila, a completely unique and transferable backdrop that was completely "one of a kind".
Congratulations Amy and Wil!
Earlier this week, I lost my Grandmother rather suddenly. The family has pulled together, and as many are in times of crisis, getting along quite well all things considered. We held her service on Friday, and in honour of her, instead of ordering a floral arrangement, I decided to make one for her that I thought would reflect her spunk, her roots, and her zest for life.
I used purple fuji mums, pink sweet heart roses, white snapdragons, and limonium to make this arrangement for my Nana.
After the service, my Mom (my partner) and I got straight back to work preparing for a most wonderful bride and her most wonderful groom. This was such a happy, generous, sincere, and thoughtful couple - It was truly my honour to have had any part of their big day!
The first wrinkle we hit this weekend was that all of the bridal party and their guests were about 45 minutes early, which meant people saw us in action, and we had to make ourselves scarce before completely finishing our set up - Thankfully, we were on hand til after the ceremony was finished, so while everyone was witnessing the vows, Mom and I got back to work at making Amy's vision come true! They made a beautiful couple, and will make a formidable team now that they are husband and wife.
Because of the time crunch I had to be stealthy in trying to catch this photo - so it's not as clear as I would have liked it to be - but, what a fabulous sneak peek for them. We did aisle decor for Amy and Wil, which included tulle swags to rope off the aisle and block the aisle prior to their procession.
Amy wanted a punch of colour as her guests arrived at the venue. Her colours were bright orange and hot pink, and I think these rose arrangements made just the right impact at the venues entrance. With a soft scent of rose, and simplicity of arrangement, the flowers spoke for themselves!
Finally, the reason Amy reached out to me in the first place. Amy and Wil wanted a photo station where they could take photographs with their guests, and where their guests could take photos throughout the night. What they didn't want however, was the standard photo booth, or a photographer's stock screen. They wanted something different and substantial enough to fill in a large empty space of their venue foyer. Sitting with them, and bringing as many creative ideas to the table as possible, we came up with the design below with an aim of playing up the garden atrium signature of Le Parc in Thornhill. We incorporated the bride's silk rose centrepiece and substituted a garden bench for the three covered venue chairs, and voila, a completely unique and transferable backdrop that was completely "one of a kind".Congratulations Amy and Wil!Saturday, August 8, 2009
39 Ways to Make Your Love Last and Last
Found a wonderful article on MSN Lifestyles this morning and thought I would share it with even more people. Writtenby Kimberly Bonnell & Pamela Redmond Satran.
Enjoy!
39 Ways to Make Your Love Last and Last
Finding the right guy is up to you, but once you do, here are some little and some bigger ways you can strengthen your love — from activities to do once a week, to things to do together once in a lifetime.
By Kimberly Bonnell & Pamela Redmond Satran
Now that you've fallen in love with someone wonderful, are you wondering how to keep that love alive? Here's what you should be doing as a couple:
...Once a week
1. Fight (a little). Getting your grrs out keeps small annoyances from snowballing. Britain's longest-married couple proves it: Together 81 years, Frank and Anita Milford say their secret is "a little argument every day."
2. Walk hand in hand. Even just to your car after an evening at Waffle House.
3. Compliment each other. This one's a daily to-do, if you can. There's no nice thing that's too small to mention: his excellent taste in music, the way he always opens the door for you — it's all worth a verbal love tap. And he will swoon.
4. Make love (obviously). But also ...
5. Have generous sex. You need at least one sexual connection a week that's all about pleasing the other person. (Dear busy people: Feel free to multitask and make this the sex from before. Same goes for this next one ...)
6. Sleep together before work. Put down the straightening iron and heat things up this way: "Weekday morning sex is the secret sauce in a relationship," says Tristan Coopersmith, 33, coauthor of Menu Dating.
7. Get into bed and ... sleep. "Sometimes the best thing a couple can do to ignite their passion for each other is sleep," says Hillsborough, New Jersey, sleep expert Carol Ash. If you two aren't in the sleepover stage yet, co-napping has been known to work wonders too.
8. Let something go. Argue over the stuff that matters, but once a week let him (and yourself) off the hook for things that don't: Yes, he chews his popcorn loud. No, it won't kill you.
9. Laugh really hard. Laughter is a relationship's Krazy Glue: It bonds you. Uninspired? Fast-forward to the chest-waxing scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, or send him something snortworthy from funnyordie.com.
10. Be do-gooders. Volunteering together (even just helping a friend move) bonds you because you're ID-ing "common values," says Elizabeth Lombardo, a psychologist in Wexford, Pennsylvania.
11. Do something scary. Been together a while? A pounding heart mimics the rush of brand-new love, says Patti Wood, an expert on nonverbal communication in Atlanta. Fly in a balloon, or order the sweetbreads for two!
12. Talk about money. Whether it's "Should we open a joint account?" or just, "Hey, let's split the bill tonight."
13. Brag publicly about him: his fearless pursuit of the mouse in your kitchen, the armful of hydrangeas he surprised you with, the raise he landed even in this economy. Surely once a month you can think of something that'll make him blush in front of your friends. He'll probably get you back too.
14. Declare something "this stays in Vegas." A silly nickname, or a crazy bedroom mishap. Share something intimate, then pull the couple bubble around you tightly.
15. Be the man. Not literally, but if your guy always initiates dates, romance, whatever, take the lead for once. Christina, 26, of Jersey City, New Jersey, likes to ask her husband out on formal dates: "I've even brought him a red rose."
16. Disappear together. Hike somewhere AT&T can't find you (and thus your mother, your boss and his needy friend Bob can't find you either). No woods? Any time spent totally alone together — a long drive, even — will do the trick.
17. Disappear alone. We're not advocating game-playing, exactly. But in this world of 24/7 availability, it can be good for your relationship to each have some solo time. Afterward, you'll feel recharged, like the free-spirited single girl he fell for once upon a time.
18. Go to a party! And mingle separately. It screams confidence and makes the after-party rehash even sweeter.
19. Have sex some way you've never had it before. A worthy challenge, whether you've been together 10 days or 10 years. Try a new position or play out a fantasy. Doesn't matter whether it's really new to you, as long as it's new to you as a couple.
20. Build a doghouse. Or restore a Firebird. Or, OK, sew matching Star Trek costumes. Any team project "is fantastic bonding," says Wendi Forrest, owner of Time for Nine, a golf dating service.
21. Now get the dog. Or at least a plant. Anything that'll grow with your love.
22. Say the tough thing. The dark family secret. The crazy career dream. If you can't confess to your significant other, then who? (Hey, you think Barack never said to Michelle way back when, "This may sound nuts, but I think I want to be president someday"?)
23. Cancel Valentine's Day and invent your own lovey-dovey holiday. Lobsterfest 2009, anyone?
24. Fall apart. You can't schedule this. But it's important that you each know, via experience, that you can completely, utterly lose your grip — weep over a bad haircut, threaten to leave your job after a nutso day, have a wrenching fight with your mom — and not lose each other.
25. Don't. Get. Up. At least once a year, break open some bubbly, disable the Wi-Fi, and don't get out of bed for the weekend.
26. Talk birth control. Not so sexy, but potentially life-changing. Would a different method work better? Is it his turn (or yours) to take primary responsibility? And where are you on the whole kid issue, anyway?
27. Re-kiss your first kiss. All timid and hopeful ... and wonderful.
28. Write each other. New Orleans newlywed Rebecca, 32, was inspired by her husband's uncle, who writes his wife every Christmas: "One letter may not seem like much, but after 30 years it's a wonderful record of their lives."
29. Think back on all the reasons you fell for him, whether you've dated for a year or a decade. Some will be big (his extra-dry sense of humor); some will be small (his love of argyle). Make sure you tell him, and remind yourself. Hello, butterflies! There you are again.
... And Once In a Lifetime
30. Get lost together in a foreign country.
31. Damn the cost and go do the dream.
32. Get intimate someplace you might be discovered.
33. Suffer through food poisoning together.
34. Go to each other's "fun" high school reunions.
35. Pay off the mortgage!
36. Come back from the brink of a breakup even stronger.
37. Together, convince a skeptic pal to believe in love.
38. Have a poor phase. Maybe a rich phase, too.
39. Count the stars. Know your love is one in a billion.
Enjoy!
39 Ways to Make Your Love Last and Last
Finding the right guy is up to you, but once you do, here are some little and some bigger ways you can strengthen your love — from activities to do once a week, to things to do together once in a lifetime.
By Kimberly Bonnell & Pamela Redmond Satran
Now that you've fallen in love with someone wonderful, are you wondering how to keep that love alive? Here's what you should be doing as a couple:
...Once a week
1. Fight (a little). Getting your grrs out keeps small annoyances from snowballing. Britain's longest-married couple proves it: Together 81 years, Frank and Anita Milford say their secret is "a little argument every day."
2. Walk hand in hand. Even just to your car after an evening at Waffle House.
3. Compliment each other. This one's a daily to-do, if you can. There's no nice thing that's too small to mention: his excellent taste in music, the way he always opens the door for you — it's all worth a verbal love tap. And he will swoon.
4. Make love (obviously). But also ...
5. Have generous sex. You need at least one sexual connection a week that's all about pleasing the other person. (Dear busy people: Feel free to multitask and make this the sex from before. Same goes for this next one ...)
6. Sleep together before work. Put down the straightening iron and heat things up this way: "Weekday morning sex is the secret sauce in a relationship," says Tristan Coopersmith, 33, coauthor of Menu Dating.
7. Get into bed and ... sleep. "Sometimes the best thing a couple can do to ignite their passion for each other is sleep," says Hillsborough, New Jersey, sleep expert Carol Ash. If you two aren't in the sleepover stage yet, co-napping has been known to work wonders too.
8. Let something go. Argue over the stuff that matters, but once a week let him (and yourself) off the hook for things that don't: Yes, he chews his popcorn loud. No, it won't kill you.
9. Laugh really hard. Laughter is a relationship's Krazy Glue: It bonds you. Uninspired? Fast-forward to the chest-waxing scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, or send him something snortworthy from funnyordie.com.
10. Be do-gooders. Volunteering together (even just helping a friend move) bonds you because you're ID-ing "common values," says Elizabeth Lombardo, a psychologist in Wexford, Pennsylvania.
11. Do something scary. Been together a while? A pounding heart mimics the rush of brand-new love, says Patti Wood, an expert on nonverbal communication in Atlanta. Fly in a balloon, or order the sweetbreads for two!
12. Talk about money. Whether it's "Should we open a joint account?" or just, "Hey, let's split the bill tonight."
13. Brag publicly about him: his fearless pursuit of the mouse in your kitchen, the armful of hydrangeas he surprised you with, the raise he landed even in this economy. Surely once a month you can think of something that'll make him blush in front of your friends. He'll probably get you back too.
14. Declare something "this stays in Vegas." A silly nickname, or a crazy bedroom mishap. Share something intimate, then pull the couple bubble around you tightly.
15. Be the man. Not literally, but if your guy always initiates dates, romance, whatever, take the lead for once. Christina, 26, of Jersey City, New Jersey, likes to ask her husband out on formal dates: "I've even brought him a red rose."
16. Disappear together. Hike somewhere AT&T can't find you (and thus your mother, your boss and his needy friend Bob can't find you either). No woods? Any time spent totally alone together — a long drive, even — will do the trick.
17. Disappear alone. We're not advocating game-playing, exactly. But in this world of 24/7 availability, it can be good for your relationship to each have some solo time. Afterward, you'll feel recharged, like the free-spirited single girl he fell for once upon a time.
18. Go to a party! And mingle separately. It screams confidence and makes the after-party rehash even sweeter.
19. Have sex some way you've never had it before. A worthy challenge, whether you've been together 10 days or 10 years. Try a new position or play out a fantasy. Doesn't matter whether it's really new to you, as long as it's new to you as a couple.
20. Build a doghouse. Or restore a Firebird. Or, OK, sew matching Star Trek costumes. Any team project "is fantastic bonding," says Wendi Forrest, owner of Time for Nine, a golf dating service.
21. Now get the dog. Or at least a plant. Anything that'll grow with your love.
22. Say the tough thing. The dark family secret. The crazy career dream. If you can't confess to your significant other, then who? (Hey, you think Barack never said to Michelle way back when, "This may sound nuts, but I think I want to be president someday"?)
23. Cancel Valentine's Day and invent your own lovey-dovey holiday. Lobsterfest 2009, anyone?
24. Fall apart. You can't schedule this. But it's important that you each know, via experience, that you can completely, utterly lose your grip — weep over a bad haircut, threaten to leave your job after a nutso day, have a wrenching fight with your mom — and not lose each other.
25. Don't. Get. Up. At least once a year, break open some bubbly, disable the Wi-Fi, and don't get out of bed for the weekend.
26. Talk birth control. Not so sexy, but potentially life-changing. Would a different method work better? Is it his turn (or yours) to take primary responsibility? And where are you on the whole kid issue, anyway?
27. Re-kiss your first kiss. All timid and hopeful ... and wonderful.
28. Write each other. New Orleans newlywed Rebecca, 32, was inspired by her husband's uncle, who writes his wife every Christmas: "One letter may not seem like much, but after 30 years it's a wonderful record of their lives."
29. Think back on all the reasons you fell for him, whether you've dated for a year or a decade. Some will be big (his extra-dry sense of humor); some will be small (his love of argyle). Make sure you tell him, and remind yourself. Hello, butterflies! There you are again.
... And Once In a Lifetime
30. Get lost together in a foreign country.
31. Damn the cost and go do the dream.
32. Get intimate someplace you might be discovered.
33. Suffer through food poisoning together.
34. Go to each other's "fun" high school reunions.
35. Pay off the mortgage!
36. Come back from the brink of a breakup even stronger.
37. Together, convince a skeptic pal to believe in love.
38. Have a poor phase. Maybe a rich phase, too.
39. Count the stars. Know your love is one in a billion.
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