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Montreal Wedding Planner

A Wedding in Just 8 Weeks!!!

Posted on 31 August 2010 | No responses

So you’re getting married, locations booked, date sent out and then wham – for whatever reason you decide to change the location.  This is exactly what happend to my couple A&A whose wedding was all booked and confirmed in Nappa Valley in September and due to the romance and pull of getting married in the same location they got engaged it was all systems go, bought forward by a month and now to be in the Eastern Township!

So some of you are probably thinking, oh my gosh what a nightmare – but really I just thought lucky me – the only real challenge was would the ‘right’ suppliers be available on a Saturday in August… to a planner this is a potential challenge as we always want to have the best of the best to match our clients vision.

The good news is that we were working with a Bride who did have a clear vision of exactly what she wanted, pictures, ideas, colours – the location was the family home so the number 1 thing to be done was to agree on a date and book the Officient/Priest.  From there on in we had to decide upon their budget and pull together a weekly project plan of what needs to be accomplished and booked by when… this really is a great tip to help you keep focussed and not let it all become overwhelming! 

As you are not going to have too much time to shop around, first of all get referrals from friends who may have recently been married – they will be sure to tell you the good, bad and the ugly… if your first choice vendor is not available then ask them for recommendations, most vendors move in similar circles and know who’s who, and of course it goes without saying,  hire a Professional Wedding Planner as we have great relationships with many vendors and can save you a huge amount of time and stress!

A&A  had a tented wedding so we had lots of moving parts, from decorators, caterers, rentals, multiple musicians, fireworks and so much more!  As their planner the first 4 weeks I was at their side pretty much 24/7 to ensure no details were missed right through to overseeing the installation, set up and breakdown with our team!

So the key things to remember when planning a wedding in a short timeframe is:

1 Have a clear vision of the style & design of wedding you want – this will give you a clear focus

2 Set your budget – this will ensure you target the right vendors

3 Hire a professional wedding planner - this will save you time and give you the security of having the right vendors to match your wedding

4 Create a weekly plan of everything that needs to be done – this will reduce stress and ensure nothing is missed

5 Set your Date, book the Officient and find your perfect location – and then all your Vendors should follow

6 Be prepared to be working on this 24/7 for the duration!

Believe me, a wedding can be planned, created and a joy to everyone involved in a short time frame! 

More to come on A&A’s spectacular wedding in the coming weeks……..

Jessyca & Joseph’s Fairytale Wedding…..

Posted on 10 August 2010 | 1 response

Jessyca & Joseph – SAME DAY EDIT by Marrone from Marrone Video on Vimeo.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Jessyca and Joseph for a number of years and it was a dream wedding coming true on Saturday 7th August, when after 9 years of dating (since they were around 16) they finally became Husband and Wife!  Jessyca wore the most amazing dress bought in NY and she looked just like a princess with a long veil which trailed long past the dress, and of course not forgetting Joseph who looked very handsome in his ’tails’!

Jess chose a combination of  Tiffany Blue and Deep Pink for her colours which were stunning, strong and vibrant for a gorgeous sunny day with everything co-ordinated from the Invitations, to the Menu’s, Matches and the Card box - even Jess & Joseph’s little dog Gaby wore a matching Tiffany Blue Dress as she took her place in the Processional and ran down the aisle – it was very very cute!

Jessica Berard created a stunning pink & white 5-tier wedding cake with gorgeous sugar paste bows around it, and the cake topper was a replica of Jessyca and Joseph and of course with Gaby too.  The gorgeous centrepieces were around 5 ft tall with beautiful deep pink & white balls of flowers which really set the room!

Jessyca is every planners dream bride…  she is so organised that she even set up the Candy Bar at home and took pictures of each jar filled so we knew exactly what went where and it did!!  She had a detailed schedule for as to how to set up the Ceremony, Reception, Cake table and Table of Honor…. Not that you are ever going to get married again Jess, but if you ever decide to change jobs – just let me know (sorry Darlene & Robert)!

So sit back and enjoy the video montage of Jessyca & Josephs wedding which was incredibly put together on the day / night of the wedding by Marrone Video, who I think you will agree did an amazing job!    For more pictures check out www.blog.timchin.com !!

A Royal Purple Affair….

Posted on 2 August 2010 | 2 responses

So with Fall creeping in (sorry) some of you will be planning weddings and parties and Thanksgiving dinners and I am guessing you are all thinking about your traditional decorations and warm Orange, Red & Yellow colours… but how about stepping out of tradition and being a little more creative with your thinking!

We all know various shades of Purple, Lilac and Aubergine have all been very popular, but how about bring Purple into your Fall decor theme?  Did you know that Purple actually means ‘Royalty’ and ‘Nobility’ and not forgetting spirituality!  So how about creating your own ‘Royal Wedding’ or having your friends and family over for some ‘Posh Nosh’!!

For a fresh look I would recommend blending the purple with white, but for a warmer Fall feel how about incorporating Orange – but don’t get to carried away and blend to many colours and I would leave the Yellow and Purple for Easter.  If you are looking for more of an evening dinner feel, however about using Black & Purple together!

I love the smell of ‘Lavendar’… it takes me back to holidays in Provence.. but did you know there is a wonderful cultivation centre for Lavendar in the Eastern Township called ‘Bleu Lavande’ where you can not only buy everything smelly for your home, but also wonderful Lavendar infussed foods for your table as well!  Great idea for wedding favors too!

Have fun and surprise your guests, how about creating your own Purple Haze Cocktail, incorporating Orange flowers as the centre piece on a Purple Table Cloth…. to me it is all about less is more with a touch here and there to amaze your guests!

How stressful is the lead up to your big event!

Posted on 20 July 2010 | No responses

Whether you have spent the last year of your lives planning your wedding or the past few months planning a special Party or  Event, the last few weeks can become quite stressful with all the tiny details still to pull together and the running around picking up of all the things you ’must have’ just to make it extra special – so here are a few tips on how to stay sane!

1. Don’t be afraid to ask for help… you cannot do this all alone.  Brides, believe it or not, your MOH and Bridesmaid’s primary job is to help you out with ‘anything’ that you ask of them and to ensure that you are stress free, so start asigning tasks and put them to work!  Equally for that all important Event or Party, get members of your family to help with the running around.

2.  Grooms, step up and take your Bride on a date, don’t talk about the Wedding just focus on each other and your new life which is just about to start together.

3. Write out the key items that still need to be taken care of and plan them into your schedule each day.. you will find that just by writing them down will make you feel better and knowing when you are going to be doing them will reduce the tension.

4. Make sure that at least a week before the Wedding or Event you have finsihed everything… with all clients I work with we actually finish the planning at least 2-3 weeks prior so that my clients can begin to relax and enjoy the lead up to their Wedding or special Party.

5. Pamper yourself.. hey you have worked hard – now take an afternoon or day out and hit that SPA.. yes you can indulge yourself, it’s included on your ‘to do’ list isn’t it!! 

6. And of course, if you can hire a professional Wedding or Event Planner to take care of all these final details for you, not only can we pull everything together beautifully for you, we can also ensure that you get to relax and be a guest at your own event.. so many times I hear “I wish we had hired you for our son’s wedding or our engagement party – we  just couldn’t relax and enjoy the day”.

I will leave you with one of the most fustrating things for a Bride or Host of a party in the lead up to their Event – guests who do not RSVP, or who leave it until the week of the Wedding or Party.  Give your Brides and Hosts a thought, they have to confirm numbers to their caterers at last 1 – 2 weeks in advance of the day and really don’t have time to be calling you to find out whether you are coming or not.  You have received a beautiful invitation, be courteous make time to promptly reply by doing the following:

1. RSVP’s should be always be sent within 1 week of receiving them!

2. If you have received an RSVP card – USE IT.. write your name ‘Clearly’ and also specify your menu choice if you have been given an option.

3. If the invitation is address to you only, then the invite is for you only – this does not mean you can automatically add a guest without checking with the host first.

A week in the life of a Wedding / Event Planner

Posted on 12 July 2010 | 1 response

So do you really know what we do?   Are you a vendor thinking that us planners get in the way?   Are you a client working with your planner and wonders what he/she is doing (that would be a worry).  Well let me give you a little insight into my life!!

First of all let me tell you that I absolutely love what I do and I think it really comes through in my enthusiasm whether I am talking to my clients or suppliers!  I currently work out of my home office which is great… I get to balance my life with working and seeing my family, plus get to take the dog for a walk and stop for my daily luxury of multi-tasking by taking lunch and watching one of my favourite British Soaps for half an hour!

So there is no typical week for me, which is great… Monday mornings is always ‘Blogging’ and ‘Accounting’, then it’s time to review each of my clients portfolio’s and review what needs to be done for the coming week – this is where I create my weekly ‘to do’ list for my ‘to do’ list!  I then get into e-mail mode and admin and get my appointments booked for the week, on top of updating budgets and individual client action plans!

Most of the week is made up with either supplier meetings, researching, interviewing and references new suppliers or meeting with existing suppliers to discuss specific client requirements I may have.  Client meetings either by phone or face to face happen all week long and I also tend to meet a lot of potential new clients at my office in the evenings and weekends!  Chris tends to work on a lot of the design aspects and is always researching new business tools for advertising & marketing ideas – plus working hard behind the scenes on specific wedding requirements for me too!

So this week, I will be out a couple of days with one of my clients working on Rentals, Flowers & Decor meetings… finalising 2 wedding day itineraries, tracking RSVP’s for another client, having a kick-off meeting with another client, researching honeymoons in Hawaii, working through my ‘to do’ list and networking at one of the groups I belong to on the West Island!  Chris will be working on a new business partnership agreement, researching transportation, horses and toilets – he gets the fun jobs, and keeping me sane by cooking us dinner (I hope he reads this weeks blog!!)

On top of all this we will be fighting off the many advertising companies who call on a weekly basis, acting as a ‘councelling’ service to clients and couples who internally have differences of opinions and being the buffer between suppliers and clients to ensure a happy outcome is had by all!

Apart from that.. we try to hit the gym 3 times a week – I drink a gallon of Green Tea everyday and my bad habits include great wine & eating smoked meat poutine… Have a great week everyone!

Christele’s ‘ Best Hat’ Baby Shower

Posted on 7 July 2010 | 1 response

What an fun day was had by everyone at Christele’s Baby Shower last weekend!  It was fun not only because of the great food and company (of course), but so much enjoyment was made from the ‘Best Hat’ competition that was sent out on the invitations – and how creative were some of these hats!!  Christele had a tough job deciding who the winner was – but it did go to a very ornate hat with lots of baby toys & clothes sewn onto it and dangling from it!!

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect as guests were able to enjoy the outside for cocktails and almost feel like they were in the ‘Mediterranean’ with the Blue and Yellow colour scheme we put together for the event.

The Tea Party kicked off at 3.30 pm with traditional mini sandwiches, and I have to say that the ‘Cucumber’ sandwiches made from the recipe of the ‘Ritz’ book of afternoon tea disappeard before you could look twice!  However, there were still lots of mini cupcakes (to die for), scones and other delights to enjoy!

The afternoon ended with a surpise visit from the ‘father to be’ and although technically the ‘no boys allowed’ sign was ignored… as he was adorned with a beautiful bouquet of red roses we let him in!

Many thanks to Kathleen Gran (www.chicstyle.ca) Grandmother to be and Natalie, Christele’s best friend who were great to work with!

Amanda & Kelly’s Winning Wedding!!

Posted on 28 June 2010 | No responses

You may remember Amanda and Kelly from a previous blog of mine – they were the lucky winners of the Sheldon Kagan Salon de la Mariee Competition back at the end of January!  Not only were they lucky enough to win An English Rose to take care of their wedding day for them, but they also had a wonderful Rehearsal Brunch the weekend before supplied by Simply Wonderful Catering in Westmount!

I must say I don’t think I have ever seen a Bride ‘beaming’ as much as Amanda did on her wedding day – mind you every meeting we had with Amanda and Kelly, Amanda always had a huge smile on her face and it really came through in every aspect of her wedding day.

The wedding took place in St-Anicet overlooking the waterfront, followed by a reception for about 80 guests!  The decor was simple and elegant with beautiful tulip centre pieces, and we had amazing Milk & White Chocolate Brownie Balls as the favors.  The girls wore beautiful Aqua Blue dresses and the flowers were all peonies (one of my favourites!).

The party was in full swing until the early hours of the morning and Amanda and Kelly travelled off to the Fairmont at Montebello for a 5-day minimoon which was of course… another fabulous prize they won!   Well done Amanda and Kelly and many congratulations again!

Flowers by Flora International

Enjoy the moment……

Posted on 7 June 2010 | No responses

Today’s blog is all about reflecting and realising how lucky we all are…..so go grab a cuppa tea and take a couple of  ‘me minutes’…….   Last week I was very excited to go and watch the RCMP Musical Ride in St-Lazare – yes for those of you who know me well – those Mounties do it for me every time!  But it was much more special as it was for ‘Jump for Hope’, ladies with, recovering and who have survived Breast Cancer which I found very emotional.  The ladies all ages looked wonderful in their pink jackets and received a standing ovation, quite rightly so!

It made me realise again how precious life is and how easily we let life take over us and we forget what is really important.  We are all so busy striving for that next important thing we ‘think we need’ that sometimes we really do forget what makes us happy.  A question I will always remember is ‘how do you define success’ – for most of us our first answer would be… how much money we earn, what kind of car we drive, how big our house is, what position we hold at work – but is that really success…. isn’t success how happy you are and how happy your family is around you ?  I remember telling my husband once that I loved my life and he told me that he had never heard anyone say that before and I thought how sad and how lucky am I.

So if right now you are feeling stressed at work, go grab a coffee, take a walk around the block in the sunshine and think about your loved ones.   If you are a Bride stressing over your wedding and getting uptight with your fiance, take a step back and remember this is just one day in your life, a beautiful day, but your marriage will last forever … take a few moments to reflect and realise that these stress’s in comparison to life are really just not worth it.  Take time to be with your loved ones, have fun, laugh, enjoy the sunshine and be daring, leave the chores for a few more hours or hey, maybe a few days.

Today I hope you can all take a few moments to ‘wake up and smell the roses’… enjoy life, smile every day you wake up in the morning and begin another wonderful day.

In memory of my sister, Elaine who passed away a year ago today……………….. life really is too too short and so quickly we forget.

Cindy & Debora’s Vineyard Wedding!

Posted on 31 May 2010 | No responses

When Cindy contacted me from Asia to plan her wedding to Debra I had just 6 weeks to pull everything together for them.  I must admit it was a little challenging with the time difference and all plans communicated through e-mail – but the real concern for me was to ensure that all the legal paperwork was processed in time for the Wedding to take place on Tuesday 18th May… and it was!

Even though the wedding was a very intimate affair, Cindy was clear that she wanted an air of elegance to her day… The Chapel of Ste-Agnes was just incredible and very spiritual for the religious ceremony that was very important to Cindy.  Beautiful white flowers with raffia adorned the aisles, a Jazz Trio were front left – even the owners dog dressed for the occasion in his bow tie!!

We really couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day… it was lovely and hot and just perfect for an outdoor Cocktail reception overlooking the mountains and hills of the Vineyeard, to be honest you really could imagine you were in the middle of Provence or Tuscany.  The homemade Canapes were delicious and such care and attention had been put into every detail to ensure Cindy and Debora and their guests had a perfect day.

Now being at a Vineyard what could be better than a tour and tasting, and their speciality of Ice Wine certainly didn’t hold any of us back!  Plus it was lovely to be inside the cellars and ‘cool’.  The newly built reception hall was just superb… almost like walking into a Tudor banquet hall of days gone by with antiques in every corner.

It really was a special day, full of emotion and love that had lasted 25 years, since Cindy had first fallen in love with Debora at school…..

Flowers: Flora International

Photograpy: Chris Gervais

Julian & Nandita’s East meets West Weekend Wedding

Posted on 17 May 2010 | 2 responses

From the very first telephone meeting with Julian and Nandita, I knew their wedding was not only going to be a very special day, but an incredible weekend extravaganza! 

All 150 guests travelled from all over the world to attend the weekend wedding in Montreal, and we started with hiring Luxury Limo Coaches to pick up the guests from Toronto early on Friday morning… lunch was organised on the way and from the noise I heard when I checked in the party was in full swing and the Champagne flowing!

Friday night we organised the Mendhi Party for the ladies (although a few men crept in to see what was going on) with Indian Canapes, Henna Artists and even a Bollywood Dancer.. the traditional elements were beautiful to watch with members of Nandita’s family giving offerings and their blessings to her.  I was truly touched when Nandita’s mother gave me a beautiful ‘Ganesh’ gift for me to keep with me for luck and good wishes – this now has pride of place on my desk!

So the big day arrived and Jashan Decorators from Toronto started installing the Mundap from 4.00 am which looked incredible… the combination of Fusia Pink, Deep Oranges and Goldreally set the ’stage’ for this event.  We had statues adorning the aisle with floating candles and rose petals and when Nandita was ready she even took my breath away at how stunning she looked in her Bridal Saree and Jewelry!  The Ceremony was very special, but I must admit I did have a nervous moment when the Indian Priest lit the fire under the Mundap and the smoke started rising and I had visions of all the fire alarms going off and water sprinklers giving the guests a shower – luckily a quick run round the back of the venue to open all the doors made everything just right!!  A Smoked Meat station greeted hungry guests after the ceremony which being a native Montrealer made the Groom very happy!

The evening became ‘West’ and the Bride made her own ’special entrance’ in a beautiful white wedding dress, the morning colour’s were carried through into the evening with beautiful flowers and Maple Favors in Pink & Orange bags that the Brides Mother bought in from India.   So with a 5 Course Meal… 12 + Speeches… a Kathak Dancer, Tango Dancers and a very touching dance demonstration by the Brides niece the night was full of anticipation and surprise! 

Guests partied until the early hours of the morning… but I have a feeling that the Coach journey home on the Sunday was a lot quieter than coming!  What an amazing weekend!

Floral Credit: Flora International

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