The Jewel Season Is In!

Ah, Autumn. A glorious season that sparkles with amber, ruby, emerald and onyx.

A wonderfully lush and cozy time of the year designed to curl up by the laptop fire with a nice cup of tea and a favorite fanfic book. To bask in the warmth of a setting sun and breathe in the scent of the morning rain, veiled by the fog and the memories. In fact, it's one of the best times to get married and it's a pity most couples do not consider it. After the mad summer dash to the alter, the wedding vendors are a lot more affordable, the breathtaking scenery outside almost guarantees the perfect wedding photos, and the air is filled with romance like never before.
But the best part, in our opinion?
You can get away with having a perfectly weird/geeky wedding theme under the pretense of a Halloween Party!

Yes, it's definitely not for every bride out there, and most of you will probably frown right about now and click away from this post. But the few rampid fans of anime/manga/sci-fi/RPGs/comic books along with goths and geeks of all ages will probably read on. Yes, it would be incredible to incorporate personalize your wedding day with your favorite past time, and why not? Just take a look at these happy couples:

And it can *GASP!* save you quite a bit of cash, starting with remorseless slashing of bridal attire price tag: a custom-designed, quality costume (be it a ballroom dress or a cat/batsuit) will probably ring in 200-300$ and will have just as much (if not more) WOW factor as a designer haute couture gown for 5,000$. Forget the professionally-made and usually expensive conventional centerpieces, instead get creative and design your own, or borrow an idea or two from the internet, just take a look at these fabulous online DIY centerpiece finds:

Also, make sure your theme is sufficiently hinted in your wedding invitations so that your guests will come dressed inappropriately:

 After all, a wedding is a celebration of a union of hearts and souls, so go ahead and make that wedding day truly YOURS :)

And speaking of Cinderella...

Congratulations again to Princess Pascale & Her Prince Charming Michael, a couple blessed with a truly fairytale romance and a perfect happily-ever-after beginning. May love, joy and harmony always be with you, and may your married life bring you lots of pleasant surprises and great adventures! :) 

And on this happy note, I bid you all adieu until the next update! Ahoy!

Peonies, Roses, Lilacs and Love :)

Dear all, I'm sorry for a rather late update - time flies so fast these days, I can't believe we are already in the middle of August! But before summarizing our last weekend excursions,  I would like to say a few words about a fun wedding of Bianka and Corey, a young couple who said their I-do-s on July 31 this year in Hudson, QC. The ceremony took place in a very nice old chapel on the shore, amidst awesome weather and a town fair in full swing, complete with a live band and homemade jam and cookies.

Accompanied by loud cheers and applause from their guests, tears of joy were sparkling on Bianka's face as her and Corey exchanged wedding vows and were pronounced husband and wife. The celebration didn't end until the early hours of the morning (after all, most guests were their age and it felt a lot like a fairytale end of a prom) and we have learned a few crucial little details to keep in mind as a possible advice for young couples everywhere:

1. If you have supplied your own linen for the big day (yes, some brides opt for that to save $$$) and your guests are known to party like it's 1999, don't be surprised to see your crisp white linen transform overnight into an abstract new age painting complete with hard to explain splatters of crimson (we are hoping it's a mix of beer and rose-flavored red pot potpourri....)

2. Any cake mishaps can be fixed with a few well placed flowers (real or artificial) or extra matching decor on hand. While it's very scary to see the cake resemble the tower of Pisa upon arrival, prompt cover-up or removal of damaged base can make it look fabulous once more.

and,
3. Garters can be a choking hazard (!) So please don't leave that inebriated lucky guy with his prized possession in the bathroom alone...
But overall, it was a fantastic wedding and a lot of people wondered how everything matched together so well. The trick? The right hand has to know what the left hand is doing and the rest is pure luck. In Corey & Bianka's case, coordinating was easy, because not only did we do their reception & church decor, we also created all their personal flowers (bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres made with lush peonies and crystal accents) and supplied a few of crucial wedding accessories as well (cake set, box for envelopes and a picture frame). The lucky part was that the cake matched perfectly with our decor even though we had no idea what it was supposed to look like and the cake lady had no idea as to what our decor was going to be either. Lucky indeed :)

Finally, if you haven't visited Hudson/Oka yet, plan an outing this weekend, you won't regret it. It is the most charming and cozy little neighborhood of a town we have seen in the Montreal surrounding area and it's only about 30min away by 40 West.
Now, moving on to the wedding of Kevin and Abigail in Montreal this past weekend. Our heartfelt wishes to the newlyweds and their family & friends, who all worked so hard to make this fabulous wedding take place.
Here's a few teaser pics from their lavender & lilac butterfly fantasy:

 

 And oh boy was that cake delicious!!! In fact, it was the most original-tasting wedding cake we have ever tried - a rich and very flavorful fruit cake made with a myriad of various spices leaving your tastebuds wondering and wanting more :P

May your summer be just as delicious, until next update everyone!

Hugs & kisses,

Tania

Highlights of last week :)

Summer is definitely in full swing, and the wedding season is SIZZLING! So we sincerely apologize to everyone for skipping an update or two on this blog, we don't even have time for lunch sometimes lol Anyways, it's ok since we love what we do :) And without further ado, here's some of the juicy wedding tidbits that we had the pleasure to orchestrate: first up, congrats again to Ivy & Francis, who tied the knot this past Saturday on the lake shore in Lasalle. It was such a GORGEOUS day that the newlyweds threw caution and time schedule to the wind and indulged in quite a substantial photo shoot next to St Laurent, its yachts, blue skies and summer breeze.

And while the bride and groom frolicked in the sun, final preparations were being done in the reception hall. Once our work was done, we decided to spare newlyweds the mess and distribute all the dishes, glasses, napkins and eating utensils on the tables, thus avoiding huge lineups at the buffet table. A note to frugal birdes out there: yes, disposable dishes can look classy as long as they are styrofoam (not plastic) and to add a bit more chic, you can splurge on realistic looking knives/forkes and spoons (found at Dollarama or ebay) and supply REAL plates on the honor table. Plus, for a more coordinated look, go with napkins in two colors that complement your theme (white and fuchsia napkins are a perfect match for lush peony arrangements in pink, burgundy and white)

The cake topper was unfortunately forgotten by the couple at home, so we used, you guessed it, more peonies!):

 And that cake not only looked gorgeous, but was also incredibly delicious (we got to taste it too thanks to our lovely newlyweds!). Of course we expected nothing short of extraordinarily, after all, the cake was made by wonderful bakers at Dolci Piu. Definitely recommended, I got them for my own wedding :P

As for the reception hall look, the best part was when the guest arrived and wondered if they were at the right location: once confirmed they kept going ooooh and ahhhh and we learned (the hard way!) to bring more business cards next time.

  And the kids were pretty happy too - we set-up a twister mat and put some coloring books and jump-rope, which made for an oasis of fun in an otherwise serious and classy affair. The night ended with a very soulful speech and a prayer, it has been a while since we heard such an honest and sweet expression of joy. All the best to the newlyweds again and a huge than you to everyone who made that day go harmoniously all the way to its grand finale.
Now moving on to some of the projects we had fun making in the last couple of days: we got an exciting opportunity to design an accessories set for Karine, a fabulous bride-to-be with old Hollywood wedding theme in black, white and black berry.  Since most of Karine's decor featured black & white damask pattern, we decided to incorporate this motif in her guestbook and picked white & black crystal flowers to accent hert accessories.

  Thank you Karine for giving us such a glamorous task :)

And then here are a few ring pillows in burgundy we made for another lovely bride Johanne to coordinate with her wedding theme of lush burgundy:

Finally for today, I just can't resist sharing with you a centerpiece we made for an Alladin-theme wedding next year for another happy couple:

Happy summer everyone and I promise to try and update this blog more regularly :)