Dave and Charlotte of Dave & Charlotte Lifestyle Photographers captured many “Lauren” moments as well as some much needed parent-only portraits. Lauren won’t remember that day but with these pictures she will look back a see how much her mum and dad loved having her with them every step of the way.

Photography By: Dave & Charlotte Lifestyle Photographers

The solution? Provide them with a party of their own. This is exactly what Maria Vrontos does via her company, Little-Party Goers. It’s essentially a child-care service offering supervision catered towards more adult-focused events such as weddings (they also do christenings, Bar-Mitzvahs, corporate events — the list goes on).

Maria and her staff engage the children from the minute they arrive through organized games, crafts, music and so on (they’ll even create theme-related activities such as Princess Party or Safari Journey). Children receive their own gift bag and always walk away from an event with a special keepsake (for example, a craft that they’ve made while in the care of Little Party-Goers).

Maria holds a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education and she has a passion for event planning. These two loves is what prompted her to start Little Party-Goers. All her staff have Early Childhood Education certification and/or a Bachelors degree (they’re also CPR trained and have had a criminal reference check).

I asked Maria if the kids would end up back at the wedding where the real action was and she said no, the real party is with Little Party-Goers.

Photography By Jennifer Klementti

Save up to 70% on as-is size 8 sample wedding gowns. Choose from over 150 styles. Book your appointment now, as the gowns will sell out quickly!

Ashton Station Bridal
Located in the Olde Church Shoppes
17A Albert Street, Carleton Place, (near Ottawa)
1.613.240.7616
info@ashtonstationbridal.ca

Adele Wechsler is one of Canada’s leading wedding-dress designers, and she’s known all over the globe for her commitment to the environment through her eco-friendly collections. Adele uses organic silks, vegetable dyed fabrics, fair-trade labour (beads are made by skilled Zulu women), and her garments are made in Canada.

“We didn’t intentionally start out trying to have a green wedding,” Collen told People magazine. “But since it’s a natural part of our lifestyle to respect the environment, everything flowed pretty naturally.”

Amy’s mother purchased the beautiful floral summer dress more than 30 years ago for $45. Her parents were married on New Year’s Eve, 1977, at the registry office in Sydney, Australia. There were ten guests at this intimate affair, and the bride carried three red roses.

Fast forward to 2010. Amy and Mark threw a backyard engagement party and shocked their guests during Mark’s speech, when he casually mentioned that after ten years together, this party has just become a wedding.

With Amy in her mother’s dress and Mark in his grey fedora, the couple pledged their commitment to each other in front of their friends and family. Amy, clad in the perfect vintage dress, could not have given her mother a more beautiful gift.

Here are a few more pictures from Amy and Marks exquisitely designed wedding, photographed by Jonathan Ong.

Photography By: Jonathan Ong.

I have to admit that overall experience was uneventful. This, however, is the highest compliment I could pay to a wedding planner. A planner’s job, after all, is to prevent any major drama from happening at an event. Sure, there are always some minor issues that inevitably come up, but it’s up to a wedding planner to handle them with professionalism and ease.

Melissa and her staff of two have the unique ability to do just that. They ensured that the day was all about the bride and groom and their guests and, miraculously, there was no micromanaging (barring a bit from the groom himself), no yelling and no running around like a crazy person. Melissa walked through the day with confidence and calm (she was actually dealing with some health issues at the time, but you would never know it — there is definitely no such thing as calling in sick when it comes to a wedding). She treated her staff and vendors with the upmost respect and knew they would make her vision come to life, which for Melissa is the highlight of being a planner.

Don’t get me wrong: there were many little fires that needed to be put out, such as the groom arriving with his speech on a USB stick and requesting they print a copy for him (this was definitely a first for Melissa). The bus company only sent two buses to transport all the guests from the Royal Conservatory to the Distillery District, when in fact it should have been three. Two of the groomsmen disappeared to the bathroom just as the processional begun. The minister should have taken Melissa’s advice and used a microphone since many of the guests couldn’t hear him speak. And, finally, Melissa had to add on a fourth bartender at midnight because they couldn’t keep up with the demand (this was one hard-partying crowd!).

But the planned popping of the champagne cork went off at the precise moment, the young flower girl and ring bearer made it down the aisle to a round of applause and the personally written vows left not a dry eye in the house.

I can only conclude that throughout a year of planning, Melissa had the same calm composure when working with the couple on each aspect of their wedding (she was at every tasting, décor consultation and any meeting that was even remotely related to the wedding). There are always some frustrating moments, outrageous requests and penny pinching, but that comes with the territory. An experienced planner can bring even the most ‘out there’ couples back to reality and show them the way to a perfect day.

Photography By: Catherine Lash

Snap & Tumble Thank-You card

Writing thank-you notes isn’t necessarily a difficult task but it can sure be time-consuming. It’s important, when sitting down to write a thank-you note, to take the time to reflect on your wedding day and how that particular person made it memorable.

A few other things to remember when writing a thank-you note:

1. Write one, even if it is late. It’s best if you can get them done within three to four weeks of the event.
2. Hand-write each thank-you note (no mass emails allowed!).
3. Be sure you mention the actual gift received and how you have or are planning to use it.
4. If you receive money, tell them how you intend to spend it.
5. If you didn’t particularly like the gift, focus on how much you appreciated them attending the wedding or shower.
6. If they sent a gift but were not able to attend your wedding, say how sorry you are they were not able to make it and you look forward to seeing them in the future.
7. Do not, I repeat, do not have guests address their own thank-you card envelopes at a party. This is very distasteful.

The best approach to making sure you get the job done is to break it up, do not try to write them all in one sitting and make sure it’s a team effort. This is not a one-person job.

Reference: The Wedding Book by Mindy Weiss

Photograph by: Tanya Roberts of Snap and Tumble

All available at: Art History and The Melissa
1080 Queen Street West
Hours: Thursday and Friday 12-7, Saturday 11-6, Sunday 11-5