Wedding Blog - it’s a bride’s life - real brides blogging ’til “I do!”

Well fellow bloggers and brides-to-be, I think I have covered just about everything . It’s time for me to turn from wedding blogger to wedding guest – can’t wait to relax and enjoy my friends’ weddings in April  Lindsey & Ryan on April 14th and Amanda & Graham on April 28th).

For my final post, I thought I would share a few of my favourite pictures taken by our photographers StreeterStevenS. Thanks again to Mike and Jason at StreeterStevens for coming in to do our photos when our original photographers went MIA with our deposit.

I have one DIY project left and that is to make our thank you cards to send to all our family and friends who helped us make our wedding a success. I borrowed some inspiration from other brides out there and took a couple of pictures at the wedding to do just that. But I thought they would make the perfect virtual “thank-you” to those of you who read and supported my blog along the way.

I thought it would be a fun idea to show you how we put all the decor ideas I blogged about for the last year into action on our wedding day.

Here is how the candlelight ceremony turned out. We bought the glass candle holders from IKEA.

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Here is the ring pillow we ordered from West Egg Studio on Etsy. It was a bit funny because Brody (who was my ring bearer and is my nephew and godson) carried the pillow so you couldn’t see the writing on it at all. Still, the pillows will still be a nice keep sake, we have the grey one on the bed in our guest room and let Brody keep the green one.

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Here is the family portrait we had made and framed to use as our alternative to the traditional Guest Book. The portrait was created by the same artist who does the avatar’s for It’s A Bride’s Life. Of course, my cartoon avatar is wearing a Mon Cheri Social Occasions dress (style # 111814). I actually bought that dress and wore it for my engagement photos and at my wedding rehearsal.

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We did have a traditional guest book as well. We bought this one from Bow Ring to match our toasting flutes which we forgot to get engraved before the wedding. Oh well, I guess we can always still engrave them when we have time. It’s one of those little details that can be overlooked.

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Here are the Ribbon Wands we ordered from Outside The Box Desserts‘ Etsy shop. We put a ribbon wand on each chair before the guests arrived along with my DIY programs.

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We had organza green chair sashes tied on each chair. We bought these from tableclothsfactory.com for less than we would have been able to rent them for! 

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We also used green organza table overlays also from tableclothsfactory.com to add a little pop of color to the tables since everything else on the table (the table cloths, the napkins and the dishes) was plain white. We definitely saved money buying them instead of renting them but keep in mind it’s quite a bit more since you’ll have to iron or steam all of the linens yourself (thanks Mom and Crystal).

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Table centerpieces were made by Flowers Just Because. And, of course, you can see my DIY table numbers I made as well.

Speaking of which, here are a few more shots of DIY table numbers. We made using the glass lanterns from IKEA and they worked out perfectly. They gave us the same look and feel as a luminary but without danger of having an open flame right next to paper.

Our “sweetheart table”. Aaron and I sat here and we just had our wedding party sit at regular tables along with their guests. This eliminated the need for the guests or “plus one’s” of our bridal party to have to sit with people they didn’t really know.

Our DIY guest favors – they were a huge hit. As a reminder, they were mojito glasses which we hand-etched with our crane logo and wrapped up with a muddler and instructions for making our signature drink “the winter mojito”.

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Here are the custom matches we had made for the cigar roller table, we bought them from Lil Missi‘s shop on Etsy.

The center picture is a close up of one of our guest’s tables at the wedding reception. You can see the signature drink (“the winter mojito”), our hand-made DIY menu, and our DIY music request cards in action.

And of course, we can’t forget about the cake and cake topper. Here is the cake – it was lactose and nut free and each layer was a different flavor (chocolate raspberry, lemon, apple cinnamon, and french vanilla).

The cake was made by Irresistible Cakes.

And our awesome cake topper (we got so many positive comments about our cake topper from our wedding guests). Thanks again to Keren Mudhai for her great work. Check out her shop on Etsy called Mud Cards.

The lighting was obviously a huge factor in the look and feel of the wedding ceremony and reception. The lighting was done by 5th Element Events who is the exclusive supplier for The Distillery District’s Fermenting Cellar venue.

Reception from above…

Bar Area…

And the lounge area…

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All rentals were provided by Contemporary Furniture Rentals.

I think that’s everything decor related that wasn’t covered in the post about the origami cranes or at least I hope so!

What do you think? Was this what you were expecting based on all my blog posts?

I thought I would be nice to share a couple of pictures of the Bridal Party, Family, and Friends.

I actually used my camera and went around to take a picture of each couple who attended the wedding – I won’t post all of those here but they turned out great. It takes some time but it gives you a chance to visit each and person at your wedding – even if it is just for a minute or two.

All pictures below are from StreeterStevenS.

Let’s start with the group pictures of the wedding party. I’ll just point out who everyone is in the first picture…

Karen (Usher), Andrea (MC), Tammy (Bridesmaid), Mark (Groomsmen & my Cousin), Colleen (Bridesmaid & Aaron’s Sister), Ken (Groomsmen & Aaron’s Brother), Madison (Flower Girl & my Niece), Jimmy (Junior Groomsmen & my Nephew), Davey (Junior Groomsmen & my Nephew), Catherine (Bridesmaid & Aaron’s Cousin), Graham (Groomsmen), Dan (Groomsmen), Andrea (Bridesmaid & 8 months pregnant), Stephen (Usher & Aaron’s Cousin), Crystal (Bridesmaid & my Sister), Ronda (MC). Missing are Mike (Groomsmen & my Brother) and Brody (Ring Bearer & my Nephew) because it was too cold outside for Brody!

Bridesmaids.

Groomsmen (my brother Mike made it back for these pictures).

Aaron’s Immediate Family: his brother Ken, his Dad – Eric, and his sister – Colleen.

My Parents: Alex and Theresa. They did so much to help us get ready for the wedding and we definitely couldn’t have done it without them.

Four of my friends (Michelle, Becky, Heather, and Leona) from Junior High & High School who made it out to the wedding after multiple flight cancellations caused by a last minute winter storm that hit New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on the Friday night before the wedding.

Finally me and my nephews Jimmy and Davey, my niece Maddy, and my nephew Brody.

My nephews kept making weird faces in all the pictures so sometimes you just have to work with what you have. That’s the best piece of advice I can give you – you can control everything, somethings will go wrong, but that’s what will make your wedding unique. Just roll with it, don’t stress out and enjoy your day – it’ll be over before you know it!

Now to find my shoes…

Flowers are a big part of any wedding and ours was no exception. Aaron and I did quite a lot of research about the types and colors of flowers we wanted to use and our florists from Flowers Just Because did an amazing job of bringing our vision to life.

Here are some pictures of my bridal bouquet. It looked great in both color and sepia.

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The bridesmaids bouquets and boutonnieres were also really nice.

Cropped versions of photos by StreeterStevenS

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The corsages made for my MC’s (see below), ushers, mother and flower girl were just perfect.

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Even the “throw-away” bouquet was really nice.

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The table centerpieces were absolutely stunning and really added a lot of drama to the reception area.

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Finally, the large urns we had made for the ceremony. They were absolutely beautiful and I’m so glad we kept them (we had debated cutting them near the end to save on costs). After the ceremony, we put them beside our “sweetheart table” during the reception.

Here they are before the ceremony.

And during the ceremony.

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And a close up shot of one of the urns beside the “sweetheart table” during the reception.

Thanks again to the lovely ladies (Mary, Anna, and Ida) at Flowers Just Because!

I thought it only right that I also do a post about how I incorporated all the fashion related topics I blogged about on the wedding day.

Of course, I have to start with shoes! Here are some great pictures of my Christian Louboutin‘s!

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My shoes were actually quite the conversation piece at the wedding. All the ladies wanted to check them out and even my niece Madison liked them.

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I hate to admit it but I wasn’t able to wear them all day and all night. But luckily I had a pair of Tom’s I bought to wear later. Both the Louboutin’s and the Tom’s had a 3″ heel so I didn’t even have to worry about stepping on my dress.

I did also write a couple of blogs about keeping warm outside during the wedding. Well, I couldn’t decided so I had two options.

The first option was a traditional faux-fur wrap. I actually got matching (grey  or black) faux-fur wraps for all the ladies in the wedding party as well. I got a great deal on these from a website called Light in the Box.

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And my second option was a cape I purchased from Banana Republic.

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The cape worked out really well, I was very happy with it and even better I can still wear it.

I opted to wear a floor length veil and to cover my face during the ceremony. Pretty traditional, I know. But since Aaron saw me before the wedding (for our first look photos); I thought it would be a way to add something different for the ceremony.

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I wore the veil right up until our first kiss. Brides-to-be, this is something to think about…if you are wearing a veil covering your face, when do you want it to be removed? The two most common options are for your father to lift the veil before he gives you away or for the groom to lift it right before the first kiss. My Dad ended up making the decision on this one since I hadn’t thought about it before the wedding.

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I didn’t blog about this but right before the wedding I found a perfume by Lanvin called “Marry me!” so I had to get a bottle of it for the big day! It made for a really nice pictures too.

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Here were the custom hangers I had made by BridalCuteHangers on Etsy.

I had one that said “we do” for my ceremony dress, one that said “the back-up” for my reception dress and one made for my flower girl and niece with her name “madison”.

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Here is the jewelery I had made for my lovely bridesmaids. It all started with these hair pins made by Silver Lotus Designs one of my very first Etsy purchases.

Here is my bridesmaid Catherine wearing the pin.

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From there I started checking out some of the other jewelery available from Silver Lotus Designs and I fell in love with her earrings and rings.

Only one small problem, my bridesmaids wanted longer earrings with more bling so I asked Silver Lotus Designs to make some customizations and here is the end result.

Grey for the bridesmaids (Andrea and Tammy below)…

And black for my usher Karen and my 2 MC’s Ronda and Andrea – here’s Karen modelling…

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I was lucky enough to have my jewelery custom made for me by Aaron’s aunt. It was gorgeous. If you are interested in buying some of her jewelery she does have an Etsy shop JOS Originals.

Here are my earrings and bracelet.

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I also had a garter custom-made to surprise Aaron.There was a garter to keep and one to toss. They were made by Lollie Couture – check out her shop and all her amazing designs on Etsy. This was a bit of an inside joke since Aaron is a Toronto Maple Leafs fan and I am actually a Montreal Canadiens fan so I made a big sacrifice here! I thought it was great that Lollie Couture was able to incorporate the logo and colors of the hockey team but still let me have something pretty.

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I also had a great clutch that was made by another Etsy seller, The Social Seam. The clutch is called the Elle Jane Clutch and I actually had 2 made – one in grey and one in white. They were both really nice but I ended up using the white one for the wedding. I’m sure I’ll still use the grey one for another occasion.

For my ring bearer and junior groomsmen, I actually bought them suits and the ordered matching vests, ties, and pocket squares online from a site called TuxGear. Luckily, they did not clash with the green the other groomsmen were wearing from Moore‘s. I can’t believe how well they ended up matching – I think I got really lucky with that one. I guess that one of the perks to choosing a color that is popular.

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Aaron looked great in his silver vest and polka dot ascot, also from Moore‘s. He wore the Tateossian cufflinks I bought him as a gift. The watch works in these cuff links and actually moves when you wind them up.

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Last but not least because no fashion & beauty product loving bride is complete without perfect hair and make-up for their wedding!

Cait Mizzi was on hand to do my make-up and hair for the big day and she did an amazing job. My hair held up pretty well considering how windy it was outside and my make-up look great right up until the end of the night.

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Getting ready…

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Near the end of the night…

Hope all my fashion and beauty finds help all you other brides-to-be out there!