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In my post about themes, I briefly mentioned paper cut-outs, many of which I purchased while I was in China in the spring.
I mistakenly thought that paper-cutting was exclusive to Chinese folk art, but boy was I wrong! There is a whole world of paper-cutting out there and it is so beyond creative. You have to be super patient (which is something I am severely lacking!) and nimble.
I initially wanted to incorporate paper cuts into the wedding somehow– either in the invitations or decor, but I still haven’t decided. I will have to leave it up to my fantastic invitation designers to help me on that one! I think they’d make for great favors as well. In China, smaller cut-outs were also sold in little frames.
Check out some of this fabulous eye candy. This art is seriously underrated…
What you wear on your wedding day should make you feel fantastic. More and more brides are expressing themselves with not only what they choose to wear, but how they dress their groom, groomsmen, bridesmaids and flower girl as well.
There are a few things I learned while planning my wedding that I’d like to pass on. First, don’t think that on your wedding day you have to look a certain way because that’s what you see in a magazine or your mother said so! Be sure to pick a dress that suits your style. You should simply be a more dressed up version of yourself. If you’re comfortable and confident, that will make you glow and look beautiful.
Ever since I was a little girl, I envisioned the perfect proposal by my Prince Charming. I thought that the question might be asked down on one knee, with a diamond ring in a champagne glass or perhaps something a little more creative like announcing it on the monitor at a Habs game. All these options would have been an excellent choice, and I would of been extremely happy regardless of how the proposal happened.
Almost three years ago, after we came home from a family party on Christmas Eve, Mr. Flamingo and I decided to open our gifts at the stroke of midnight for the whole “magic” aspect of Christmas, and because it was our first real Christmas together. We started dating 2 weeks prior to the 25th the previous year, so in my eyes it didn’t really count as our first Christmas together.
After opening all our presents, I noticed there was a little red and gold box left. I was completely clueless of what was about to happen. My sweetie grabbed the box and then proposed to me, and of course I accepted. But there was no getting down on one knee, no champagne to celebrate, nothing. At the moment I was ecstatic about the whole idea of getting married, but at the same time I was a little disappointed that the proposal wasn’t quite what I had imagined it would be.
This is my excuse for being vacant, I’m going to claim that my laziness and complete lack of posting is due to Mono*. It’s not because I’m in the post wedding lull. It’s not at all a depression based on having very few photos of the event. It’s because I’m too tired to do anything other than drag my slug-like body down the hall to pour myself a bowl of cocoa puffs…
I had PTWS (just like Mr. Monkey’s description) and had Mr. GB go into the garage and paint our placeholder dining room table’s legs. I say placeholder because we do intend to get something nice, but until we can, I couldn’t look at the plain legs and be satisifed… well, I had PTWS. Ask me now and I’ll sniff dirty socks and think “oh.. not so bad… I can wear these if only I can avoid laundry one more day…”
Featured on Weddingbee
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
The day before the wedding, I asked the entire bridal party to come over to our place so that I could run through the time schedule. Each person received a detailed schedule of when things were to happen. The reason why this picture is so funny is that the limo was due to arrive in an hour and of course, the boys just woke up! (Mind you, I’d been up since 6am.)
**I forgot to note in my earlier posts that all pictures are courtesy of our pro-photographer, Dennis Lee, You rock, Dennis!!**
After our photo session, the ladies went back to my room to freshen up. At 5 o’clock, my DOC came a knockin’. It was time!
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
I’ve been posting lightly lately, because for the past few weeks, I decided that it was a fabulous idea to teach myself Dreamweaver and build our own wedding website. Let’s just say that its a vicious little program, and while I’m sure it’s 100% easier than outright learning HTML coding, it’s still pretty tough.
Anyway, while my skills as a web designer are poor, I still feel like I have a nice creative eye.
I wouldn’t know the first place to even begin a Dreamweaver tutorial, so I’ll spare you those details, but I did want to share with you what programs/materials I used, and what the final outcome was. I didn’t seek any professional web design help so I hope that some of you web-savvy brides will be inspired to build your own website, rather than pay for one.
Even if you don’t build your own website, I do think its REALLY worth it to register for your own domain name, that way you can spare your guests the lengthy free web address that sites like theknot.com and weddingchannel.com give you. It’s only around $6-$10 a year, depending on who you use, and you can easily set up that site name to forward to your free, long-named wedding website.
Monday night, Mr. Magnolia and I headed over to his cousin’s house for dinner… and a hair styling session. See, Cousin’s wife used to be a stylist, and she maintains a small side business doing wedding and prom hair. I love the idea of keeping wedding day beauty “all in the family” (as I mentioned before, my cousin will be doing my makeup), so I asked her if she would be willing to do my updo and that of any bridesmaids who want their hair up.
I’m going for a loose curly updo… kind of a challenge with my stick straight hair, which is very resistant to holding any type of curl. (Seriously, I got a perm when I was ten, and I woke up the next morning with straight hair. It was ridiculous.)
Here’s one of the pictures I gave her for inspiration:
After all that searching… I finally found “the one.” It was perfect in every way: way below budget, comfortable, simple, and well made.
*** Warning Mr. Canary: Do not continue to read this post!!! ***
The dress is made by Alfred Angelo (thanks to all the readers who commented in Part 1, I had to hold back and not say that I love Alfred Angelo and actually ended up getting one of his dresses!). It was part of a travelling trunk show that was at I Do Bridal for only a week. I had no idea when I visited the store… it just happened to be one of the dresses that Bridget suggested.
It was about the fourth dress I had tried on. I liked it– it fit well and was very flattering, but it was missing that element of embellishment that I craved. When I told Bridget that, she came back with a sash and a brooch. She started the “dress origami” and when I turned back to the mirror, it was the perfect dress!
The dress is ivory which worked really well with my skin tone. It’s strapless with a corseted back. The A-line skirt has simple pickups that gently fold into each other without too much symmetry so it won’t make anyone queasy.
*** Warning Mr. Canary: LAST CHANCE! Do not continue to scroll or read!!! ***
Blogging has changed the way weddings are planned. Brides are taking on more and more themselves with the help of great websites like our very own weddingbee.com. But it’s not just blogs about weddings, but vendors sharing their work on their own blogs. Mrs. Ant compiled The Ultimate Wedding Photography Blog List. This was hours of entertainment for me (wedding photography websites are among my favorites) and I encourage you all to check it out.
In the meantime I wanted to share a few getting ready teaser photos from my photographer, Daria Bishop, that she featured on her blog.
One of the awesome things about living in such a large city is that you have access to a lot of different things. You have a tonne of restaurants, a tonne of theatres and a tonne of clothing stores. Especially vintage clothing.
Though shopping for a brand spanking new piece of clothing is great, sometimes scoring a great preloved piece can be just as awesome, if not more so, because you feel like you’ve unearthed something really amazing. I can’t tell you how many weekends after I first moved to the city I spent scouring Queen West or Kensington Market with Mr. Hummingbird for a great new find (Brava, Carbaret, House of Vintage and Courage My Love are all noteworthy shops if you’re looking here in Toronto) .
It can take some effort sometimes, but if you find just the right thing, it can totally be worth it.
Because vintage seems to be coming back in a big way, for some inspiration, I’ve collected a bunch of pictures of actual vintage dresses.
A simple square necked number from the 1950s.
(I totally love the simplicity of this! The way the skirt falls is so pretty.)
Since the Gocco is always a hot topic here on weddingbee, here’s a roundup of all the posts where we feature the Gocco! I wonder how much of an impact we’ve had on Gocco sales! 
The oh-so talented Joy of Oh Joy! has a line of paper and patterned products called Nantaka Joy, which are now available in her online store. Her site showcases a collection filled with refined and hand-drawn designs, playful patterns, subtle and organic textures, and vibrant colors.
All images courtesy of Nantaka Joy
I spent the last day of my single life in my little sister’s room. My best friend arrived the earliest. She was already dressed and ready while I looked completely haggard.
I can’t believe it’s been over a year since we got engaged. I can remember the details pretty clearly, but at the same time, it seems like it was ages ago. I still have the priceline itinerary saved:
Departing Flight Information - Friday, September 22, 2006
American Airlines Flight1671
3h 55m, 1556mi
From
New York City - John F Kennedy Intl(JFK)
New York City, NY
Departs:10:55 A.M.
To
Cancun Intl(CUN)
Cancun, Mexico
Arrives:1:50 P.M.
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