Favors

Do it yourself wedding favors are a huge money saver and add that perfect personal touch.

Some simple, cost effective ideas include:

Make it yourself mojito kits











Make it yourself cookie jars
- this is recommended for smaller weddings - get firends and family together to bake an assortment of cookies - purchase decorative jars to allow you to see the cookies

Make it yourself flower pots











- Going green is a huge theme these days because it is cost effective - contact and purchase mini daisies, saplings, or violets from a flower distributor. They usually come in burlap bags, which can easily be cellophane. Another option is purchasing little clay flower pots.

Something...

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue!
Wow there is a mouthful! Tradition says that all brides should incorporate these somethings into their big day. Realistically, who is willing to chance tradition?

Here are my budget friendly ideas:

Something old
- A parents, friends or family members jewelry




Something new
- Brides wedding dress
- Brides hair accessories

Something borrowed
- A parents, friends or family members jewelry can double as something borrowed
- The Brides hair piece and accessories

Something blue
- The ring boys pillow
- incorporate it into your flowers
- garter belt

What's a Maid of Honour to do?

A Maid of Honour is similar to the Groom's Best Man. The difference is that the Maid of Honour is responsible for bringing the couples vision to fruition. Often time consuming and stressful, being a Maid of Honour is hard work- the Bride must always come first. When asking your best person to be your Maid of Honour make sure you are clear about what responsibilities the the Maid of Honour will be responsible for.

Below is a list of the Maid of Honours responsibilities:
- Help the Bride shop for her wedding dress and the Bridesmaid gowns.
- Visit reception sites with the Bride and offer a second opinion

- Help the Bride choose the wedding flowers
- Ensure that the Bridesmaid dresses are ordered on-time
- Help make wedding guest favors for the wedding and Bridal Shower
- Help plan the wedding shower
- Host a bachelorette party
- Attend rehearsal and rehearsal dinner
- Hold the Grooms ring
- Sit to the right of the Bride at the reception
- Conduct a final walk through at the venue for the Bride the day of
- Make a speech
- Help bring wedding gifts to the Bride and Grooms home

What's a Best Man to do?

The Best Man is the Groom's best person. The Best Man serves as the Groom's personal advisor, confidant, and time-keeper. Duties include, but are not limited to:

- Plan and pay for the bachelor party with other grooms men and the groom's family
- Rent and pay for a tux and go for fittings
- attend rehearsal and rehearsal dinner
- Help bring boxes to rehearsal, ceremony and reception

- Help the groom dress and make sure he gets to the church on time
- Keep the brides wedding ring until the ring exchange
- Sign the marriage license
- Groom and Bride will give you payment to pay the officiant before the ceremony

- You sit to the left of the Groom at the reception
- You will have to dance with the Maid of Honour
- Make first toast to Bride and Groom
- Collect and Return formal wear rentals for both yourself and the Groom after the wedding
- Assist the Maid of Honour with bringing gifts to the Bride and Grooms home

Affordable Flowers Year Round!

Baby's Breath * White
Bachelor's Button * White, Pink, Red or Blue
Calla Lily * White is widely available, other colors, available as well, particularly in mini size
Carnations * Many Colors
Delphinium * Blue, White, Purple

Eucalyptus * Blue, Silver
Gardenia * White
Gladiolus * Many Colors
Heather * Pink
Lily of the Valley * White and Pink
Orchid * Pink, White, Purple, Other Colors
Protea * Pink
Rose * Many Colors ***February at a premium
Scabiosa * Purple, White

Do It Yourself Leaf Placecard

A natural fall look:

- By simply collecting leaves from your lawn you can create this beautiful, rustic splash of colour.
- You will need to collect these leaves early( right when leaves start falling from the trees). This will help ensure the colour is bright and the leaves in the best possible condition they can be
- You will need to purchase a small can of varathane from the hard ware store.

- Purchase some string, clothing pins, and drop cloth

Directions:

• Step 1: Begin by collecting your leaves- you have the option of purchasing some spray paint to add some colour to your leaves.
• Step 2: Allow the leaves to dry for a few days before working on them. Make sure that you lay the leaves flat to allow for extra moisture to evaporate.
• Step 3: Purchase a tin foil roasting pan. Pour the varathane into the pan. Proceed to delicately coat the leaves by dipping them into the varathane. Hold the leaf upside down to allow excess varathane to drip off
• Step 4: Hang the Varathane coated leaves upside down with a clothes pin. Make sure that you clip the stem so you do not ruin the leaf.
• Step 5: How you assemble the leaves is entirely up to you. Just remember to be careful when handeling the leaves. This leaves can be completed a few weeks ahead of time.

Seasonal Fall/Winter Flowers

Fall:
Aster * White, Pink
Casa Blanca Lily * White * January-October
Chrysanthemum * White, Yellow, Orange, Pink, other colors
Dahlia * Many Colors
Delphinium * White, Blue * April- October
Dried Leaves
Marigold * Yellow, Orange, Red
Star Gazer Lily * Pink and White * January-October
Statice * Purple
Zinnia * Red, orange, pink *

Winter:
Amaryllis * Red, White
Anemone * Blue, red, pink, white * Jan-May and Aug-Dec.
Bells of Ireland * Green * January-October
Camellias * White, Pink
Casa Blanca Lily * White * January-October
Cosmos * Pink, White, Brown, Other Colors
Daffodil * Yellow * January-Early May
Forget-me-nots * Blue
Holly * Green with Red Berries
Jasmine * White
Narcissus * White, Yellow
Poinsettia * Red, White
Ranunculus * white, pink, red, orange and yellow * February-May
Star Gazer Lily * Pink and White * January-October
Star of Bethlehem * White
Sweet pea * white, pink, red/coral, and lavender/purple * December-May
Tulip * Many colors, including white, pink, yellow, red, and purple * December-April
Waxflower * Pink, White

Bridesmaid Dress Trends

Dress trends are always changing. It is important that you stay true to yourself and choose a bridesmaid dress style that not only reflects your style, but also the personal style of your attendants. This means choose a dress that you like- weather it counts as something that is in style or not. Look at these stylish, but affordable dress options. They range between $130-$190 (CAD), not including alterations.

Summer Flowers Outside the Box

When deciding on your flowers this summer, choose an accent that is outside the box. Flowers that are in season are always cheaper, but try choosing one that is different and makes a statement. The below pictures are just a taste of what your wedding bouquet could look like. They each come in a variety of colours making your flower selection easy and fun.
Remember be creative!

Peony Profile:
- This is a full figured flower, great for filling space
- Compliments other flowers, such as roses or greens well
- It is affordable and requires few flowers
- The average cost per stem is $3.00 (CAD)
- The peony season is short- last week and a half of may to early second week in June.
This arrangement contains an assortment of peonies, roses and sweetpea roses.






Sweetpea Roses:
- Delicate, small figured flower.
- Acts as a great filler and or splash of colour
- comes in a wide assortment of colours



Pink Zinnia:
- Delicate pillowy flowers
- Great on its own, or incorporated into a bouquet








Purple Hydrengea:
- Full figure flower
- multiple colours
- great on its own or as an accent
- one of the most affordable flowers because it takes up a lot of surface area
- accompanies almost any flower well

Queen Ann's Lace:
- Great accent flower
- Very delicate
- Inexpensive, approximately .60 (CAD) cents per stem

Let them eat cake!

Chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, banana, you name it your bakery can make it. Choosing your wedding cake is definitely the tastiest part of your wedding planning. Practically every baker will allow you to taste what they have to offer, i highly recommend you take advantage of this tasty treat.

A few things to do when choosing your wedding cake are:
-Always have a budget.
-Always be open about your budget
-Take notes on what you like and do not like

Usually bakers have very ornate cakes on display, far above the average brides budget. This does not mean hands off, but it does mean some negotiating is in order. Keeping note of what display cakes you like specifically, regarding the details will assist you in deciding what you like and dislike. Always be open about what your budget is with the baker because the baker can help steer you in the right direction.

Budget Cake Options:
Go for a smaller cake. The majority of guests will not eat your wedding cake. Guests are usually into the dessert buffet table versus the cake.
A great way to get the wow for less is to mix your wedding cake up. This includes having iced pieces of pretend cake layers. When it comes time to serving the cake just disassemble the layers.

Another option is creating a cupcake tree. Cupcakes are easy to make, but expensive to purchase. Making your own cupcakes is easy, cost efficient and can be made 2 days prior to the wedding.

A third option is a cupcake/wedding cake tree. You can purchase a small wedding cake topper from your baker. You can create a cupcake tree by placing the cake as the topper of the tree and the cupcakes below it. Depending on your wedding cake colours, you can match your cupcakes to the colour of the topper.

Further, you do not have to serve the topper, as it is often tradition for the bride and groom to freeze the top layer until their one year anniversary together. Always remember you have options. Keeping the layers down will always keep the cost of the cake down. If require a bigger wedding cake than what you can do is purchase a wedding cake that has a slab cake base and a small round on the top. A slab cake will serve more guests than a round cake would.

Adding to this, you can purchase a smaller wedding cake and than have extra slab cake available that the caters can serve to the guests. No one will notice that these slabs are not from the original wedding cake.


This could save you big dollars because the slap cake will not require ornate detail as no one is going to see it until the eat it.

The Perfect Wedding Bouquet

Choosing your wedding bouquet may appear difficult, but believe me when i say it is not. When choosing your bouquet keep in mind these simple tips:

- Weight: Keep the weight down
- Size: Keep the arrangement small
- Colour: What are your colours

While weight may not seem important at first, trust me it will on the big day. Flowers can become incredibly heavy. Take into consideration that you are carrying the flowers throughout the ceremony, pictures and the reception. By the end of the day your arms will feel like jello! The following bouquets are examples of elegant, but light flower options.

Roses are always a safe option, but keep in mind their weight. Because roses are a full body flower they ca become incredibly heavy. Try mixing it up a little by adding some hydrangea, orchids, berry's, peonies or greenery.

Here are some pint size options that are sure to create a buzz while keeping the price tag down.

The Head Table

The head table is the most important visual aspect of any wedding. Sadly, it seems like the creativity factor is lacking in this respect. The wow factor must not be downplayed. With a little effort and imagination the sky is the limit.

Here are a few ideas on how you can arrange your head table:

Gazebo Design 1:
A simple gazebo may just be that something wow your wedding needs. Who ever said you need to face an audience? By arranging the table sideways you not only get to see your guests, but you get to see each other. The cost of doing something like this is not high considering you get to cut down on linen rentals, such as the back drop. The only draw back with this set up is disruption of pictures. This head table arrangement is best suited for smaller wedding parties.

Perhaps the best ideas for a head table is mixing table sizes and dividing the tables up. This not only creates a wow factor, but it can also portray a more intimate feel.

The V-Design:







Multi-level:







Gazebo Design 2:

The Classic Updo

A classic updo works for almost every bride. While there are many options available it is surprisingly difficult to find something that is simple, pretty and classy. After much research i have finally found a few updo's i think are worthy to say I do in.