Filed under: Bridesmaids, Wedding | Tags: bridal party, Bridesmaids, misspronails, single, Wedding
posted by: misspronails
My name is PRO!!!!
Hi. I’m the Maid of Honor. I’m single. I like long walks on the beach, a good sense of humour and a sensitive side.
I don’t know too much about weddings, but I’m an expert at male strip clubs, male strippers and private nude male dancers.
That is my contribution.
The end.
JUST KIDDING!
Just want to say HELLO! We are the hottest bridal party in the universe, and boy do I have a big role to fulfill! M, that proposal was THE best birthday present ever, and I will always remember it. I’m honoured, excited and emotional about being the Maid of Honor AND being part of a bridal party for the first time! This isn’t just any regular bridal party. It’s a bridal party that I have grown up with since high school and still remain absolutely close friends with. I’m so excited to help plan and be part of this amazing day to come. I can’t wait to get started!
So where do we start?
posted by: tiffytee
First guest contribution!
I can’t believe I’m entering the home stretch before my wedding. Most of the major things have already been booked, but there are so many little things still left to do. I feel the stress lurking right around the corner!
But then again, this is the part that should be the most fun…the favours, the invitations, the programs…all the arts & crack stuff that I’ve been waiting to do. All the stuff my Cricut was built for!!
I feel sad writing about this midway through the planning because I had a lot more material in the beginning when I was engrossed in venues or obsessing over the Pronovias website. C’est la vie!
That’s my short post for now….more details to come on the crafty stuff!!
tiffanyandkenneth.com (contact me for the password)
Filed under: Bridesmaids, Wedding | Tags: bridal party, Bridesmaids, brunch, Oliver & Bonacini, proposal
Filed under: Love in general, Proposals | Tags: anniversary, Bahamas, beach proposal, engagement, Lucaya, proposal
posted by: missmiellen
In the spirit of proposal stories, I’ve managed to get one of the future authors of Miss to Missus, Tiffany (and also one of my best friends), to spill her story. Enjoy!
Filed under: Love in general, Proposals | Tags: engaged, engagement, Niagara-on-the-Lake, proposal
posted by: missmiellen
Congratulations to my lovely friends Kristy and Jonathan, who got engaged over the weekend. She gave me the go ahead to share her story with you; it’s adorable, and has K+J written all over it!!!
We arrived in Niagara-on-the-Lake on Friday and from the minute we set
foot in the town, he was already pointing at every open grassland and
saying “Oh! That’s a nice place! Lets go for a walk there later on”.
If you know him, you’d know that he’s the last person to want to
“walk” around; however, I was clueless! His suggestions continued
during dinner, and on Saturday during breakfast. By Saturday morning
I had an idea that he had something in store, but didn’t know what.
We walked around the lake/river, and the whole time I was cursing that
it was so cold and that my ears would fall off from frostbite. I
wanted to go back inside to the warmth of the hotel; however he
persisted that we continue walking. We stumbled upon Fort George, an
old fort that was closed for the winter. We walked around the fort to
an open field where he then pulled out a box from his pocket and said
“I got you something”.
I said, “Wow! Is it my birthday?!” I opened it and found a ring
inside. I asked what it was, and he said “it’s an engagement ring”.
At this moment most people would start to cry, but I started to laugh
out of sheer surprise.
He continued to stand there while I kept saying, “What?! What?!” and
giggling. For a few minutes I could not say anything. It all seemed
like a blur. Then I said “wait a minute, aren’t you supposed to get
on your knee and ask me something?” He did and I said YES!
I’m still in shock that I am now “engaged” and totally surprised that
he managed to sneak past my radar to buy a ring.
—
Congratulations to the both of you, and welcome to the Wonderful World of Weddings!!!
Filed under: Design, Invitations, Wedding | Tags: invitation design, Invitations, letterpress, Planning, spot varnish, wedding invites
posted by: missmiellen
J and I are a match made in wedding invitation heaven: the former, a printer and the latter – a designer. We have dabbled a bit in discussing what we want to do with our wedding invites, but truth is that the possibilities are endless!!! But let’s not waste more time. Let’s start the eye candy!
Letterpress
One thing that I absolutely love are letterpress invitations. The heavy, textured paper and relief text and designs – aaah, it’s enough to make my computer melt. This beauty comes with a price, of course. Depending on your total order quantity, you could spend an extra $5-10 an invite easily.
The following montage is from Smock – gorgeous, gorgeous letterpress invites that are SO droolworthy!!!
photo belongs to smockpaper.com
More letterpress to drool over by Dolce Press. Somebody pass me a bib, pronto.
photo belongs to dolcepress.com
Spot Varnishes
This finish is usually reserved for annual reports, pocket folders and other corporate stationary, but why not on a wedding invite? On dark colours, especially black, the effect is stunning and chic. What is it? It’s a coat of varnish applied to specific parts, as a top “layer”. It should be used on a satin finish so that the varnish really pops.
This is not an option that you would tick off in a check box for usual invite printing – so you’ll have to speak to a printer about the designs and possibilities. This following photo is a close up of what a swirlie varnish looks like on black paper.
photo belongs to underconsideration.com
Paper! And more paper!
If your budget didn’t call to spend on fancy letterpress or varnishes, you gotta at least invest in some lovely paper. Paper really makes your invitation, and with nice paper, you can print invitations digitally in small quantities. Pearlescent cardstock that has a beautiful shimmer to it, comes in ALL types of colours and are super popular now for wedding invites.
As you can see here, digitally printed invitations can still look amazing, when the paper and design is right.
photo belongs to CricketPrinting.etsy.com
—
We’re still far away from designing our invitations, but oh my god is it one of the most exciting things we are both looking forward to!
posted by: missmiellen
Love it or hate it, Miss to Missus is wishing you a happy Valentine’s day! J and I decided to remain low-key… not because I think V-day is “commercialized” or “the only day we should show each other love”, but because we’re both brokeass. Whatever it is that you did, whether you are single or not, I hope it was another great day in the life of!
“Where so ever you go, go with all your heart.” – unknown
Filed under: Planning, Venues, Wedding | Tags: Copper Creek, Design Exchange, downtown, engaged, Grand Banking Hall, marriage, reception sites, Steam Whistle Brewery, Suites at 1 King West, Toronto, Venues, wedding budget
posted by: missmiellen
Last week I blogged about a few of our venue selections with much glee and vigor. In the past week or so, I’ve spoken to some friends and brides (in real life and online) and they decided to completely bring my desires crashing down – I’m going to go over budget with these selections. Well, I don’t actually have a budget yet, but that shows you how much money we are talking here.
More specifically The Carlu and The Fermenting Cellar. The Carlu I can accept – I’ve developed no actual feelings for it, but The Fermenting Cellar? Really?
When I first heard “$250-300 a head” I thought it was an exaggeration, but now I have 2 other sources confirming this is what they were given as an estimate. At the rate of 225 guests that would bring it to… $56,250 – $67,500. ARE YOU SERIOUS??? And that’s if we can even cut the list down to 225!
I haven’t written it off, as I am working with my wonderful friend and colleague Peach, who is bringing in her guy Q, and they are the pros when it comes to events. In the meantime, I’ve added a few more potentials to the shortlist, which is now becoming a longerlist.
5. Steam Whistle Brewery
photo belongs to steamwhistle.ca
This unique spot in the ever-desirable Distillery was on my original shortlist. It’s got loads of things going for it – and if it looks as cool in person as it does on their website, then we may be close to striking gold. It’s again a bare space, that’s a brewery and retail store by day, but can turn into a really hip party at night. The best part is that they actually provide (some) tables, chairs and linens for you to use! If they work for our design and theme, it will be incredible.
Another big bonus – you can bring your own booze! Oh my god! A distillery that lets you bring your own booze. Amazing.
Price: Eeee – the rental of this space is not that much cheaper than The Carlu. It’s $4200 +GST for The Hall and The Gallery, which could be used as the cocktail area. There’s also a huge patio – which may be perfect for the ceremony. $$$
Location: The Distillery – and parking shouldn’t be a problem.
Overall rating for far: Well, the BYOB just brought it up to 9.5/10, but the expensive rental fee knocked off a point. So 8.5/10.
6. The Design Exchange
photo belongs to dx.org
The DX was actually my second lightbulb when it came to venue ideas, after the Art Gallery of Ontario. I loved the idea of it being Toronto’s premier design educational outlet, and I loved going there in my university years. It’s called the Design Exchange because it’s housed in the original TSX building – the room where the reception would take place is the actual Trading Floor. How perfect would that be if J was a trader? Hoho.
I’ve had some ok-mediocre comments about the DX from a few people, so we’ll have to see for ourselves when we visit it.
Price: $3600 +GST for quite a bit of stuff (tables, chairs, access to 2 rooms and the main reception area). $$$
Location: Bay and Adelaide – there is parking at the TD Centre – at a cost, of course.
Rating so far: I’ll give it a 7.5/10, for the fact that its name has the word “design” in it.
7. Suites at 1 King West – The Grand Banking Hall
photo belongs to onekingwest.com
I’ve never been here, but what’s more chic than the Suites at 1 King West? Apparently they have a big hall in there, with n-foot ceilings AND it’s attached to a hotel. There’s nothing I’d love more than to plop into a comfy hotel bed upstairs after the party’s over.
Weird thing is – according to a Knottie (ahem, that’s someone from a theknot.com forum), this place is going through administration right now. Wonder if that will affect anything in the near future?
Price: Again, from the Knottie, it will be at least $120 per person. Doesn’t sound too bad? $$
Location: 1 King West. As for parking, not sure about this one; it’s in the financial district, so it sounds unpromising.
Rating so far: 7/10.
8. Copper Creek Golf Club
photo belongs to bostonimages.com
All right, to everyone’s shock, I’m throwing in a golf club. Years ago, I was all about the golf club. J is such a big golfer, and I thought it was romantic… but as the years passed, my likes really changed. The great thing about GCs is that they often are much cheaper than the other venues I’ve listed previously. J said we should check them out anyway, so…
I just saw that Veronica Di Santo, daughter (and partner) of the amazing Ines Di Santo, got married at Copper Creek in the current issue of Wedluxe. If it’s good enough for Di Santo, it must be good enough for me!
Price: According to Tiff’s spreadsheet, we’re looking at $155-192 +tax per head. Maybe it’s not that much cheaper at the GC. $$$
Location: It’s in Kleinberg – so all you downtowners, good luck getting a ride. It is a lovely little town though, just north of Toronto, still in York region.
Rating so far: 6/10. The food needs to be incredible, and the ballroom needs to blow me away for me to be swayed.
—
I can’t wait to actually step foot in these places. The search continues!
Filed under: Cakes, Cost and Budget, Planning, Wedding | Tags: Cakes, dessert
posted by: missmiellen
Going into too much detail of the wedding is impossible right now considering there’s no date nor venue yet, but there’s one thing I’d like to discuss. It’s wedding cakes.
Wedding cakes were something I always admired in the past. They’re so beautiful, with all their layers and details and fondant… oh, the fondant. I haven’t met a fondant cake I didn’t like. But now that it’s time for me to think about cakes, I came to the realization that – I don’t need one.
This isn’t something I’ve discussed with J yet, so who knows, he might insist on a wedding cake (haha!), but I thought that maybe we skip the cake. According to online stats, the average wedding cake costs over $500 – that’s a lot of money that could be put towards better things (i.e. attendant gifts, shoes, honeymoon). My brother had a lovely cake at his wedding – but no one got to eat it because half of it was fake, and the part that was real was too small to share amongst 120 people. And indeed, it was around the average wedding cake cost.
I’d much rather serve something unique, like a candy bar (bulk barn style where people get to fill up baggies to take home) or a chocolate lover’s table with a fountain, brownies, s’mores and chocolate milk. Has anyone gone to weddings where they did something cool with desserts/wedding cake time?
photos belongs to stylemepretty.com
Filed under: Planning, Venues, Wedding | Tags: Capitol Event Theatre, Distillery District, Palais Royale, reception sites, The Carlu, The Fermenting Cellar, Toronto, Venues, Wedding
posted by: missmiellen
A wedding date can’t be official until you’ve firmed up your venue. I must say this is one of the most exciting parts of the wedding planning process, because your venue determines so many things: style, location, size, budget and date.
J and I have shortlisted a handful of sites that we want to check out. Let’s go through a few of them and compare! For those of you who don’t know, this wedding is taking place in Toronto, Canada.
Three words to describe the wedding: chic, festive and jaw-dropping
1. Capitol Event Theatre
photo belongs to eventtheatres.com
Uhh my jaw dropped already and I’m sure yours did, too. An absolutely beautiful venue. I’ve been here once for a new year’s party and remember it being super gorgeous and hip. Ironically, J and I had a very bizarre and not so romantic run-in here, but that makes it that much more unappropriately appropriate. Haha!
Price: from what my friend Danie says, it’s “more reasonably priced than the Eglinton Grand”. Not sure what exactly that would mean, but I’ll give it $$ out of 4.
Location: It’s central, at Yonge and Eglinton, which makes it not all the way downtown for the uptowners and not all the way in farmland for the downtowners. But, this also could pose a problem for parking as I’m not sure if they have a big lot around there.
Overall rating so far: 8/10
2. Palais Royale Ballroom
photo belongs to bostonimages.com
Anything named ballroom is worth a gander to me. I had included the Palais Royale in the initial shortlist to J because it was cool, Art Deco and seemed ok, but the pictures on their website don’t do it justice. It wasn’t till J mentioned that he liked how it overlooked the waterfront that I decided to give it another look. I googled the place and found a bunch of wedding photos taken by Boston Avenue (like the one above!) and decided it was worth checking out! The entrance (Parlour) is really nice too, and I also love the view of Lake Ontario. Only thing is that I don’t believe you can bring in your own caterer which I’m not too crazed about.
Price: I have no idea.
Location: It’s along Lakeshore Boulevard, so it’s downtown, but away from the hustle and bustle of the city. It’s got a parking lot I believe.
Overall rating so far: 7/10
3. The Carlu
photo belongs to bostonimages.com
Oh, The Carlu. When I described the wedding vision as chic and jawdropping, quite a few people mentioned The Carlu. Why have I never been here before? I’ve gotten a few glimpses from wedding photos at The Carlu, but I don’t think they really tell the story. Danie described it as “absolutel incredible” and “a sight to see”. Another Art Deco spot on the list!
Price: After Danie gushed about the beauty of it, she also exclaimed “EXPENSIVE!!!” On their website, the rental rate for the Sky Room (shown above) and the Round Room (where the dinner would be) was $5500 + GST. Even Casa Loma is only $2700! Aye Chihuahua!! You get $$$$ out of $$$$.
Location: Cool location, at Yonge and College. Parking is available at College Park, so that’s no problem. Sorry mom, but this one’s downtown, too.
Overall Rating so far: 7.5/10
4. The Fermenting Cellar
photo belongs to bostonimages.com
photo belongs to fermentingcellar.ca
Ok, this is the last place I’m going to review. It’s also my sleeper pick. It’s got so many things going for it!!! So much that it deserves two pictures. First of all, it’s in the Distillery, so I get 50 points for that. It’s self-described as industrial chic, which I looove, 35 foot ceilings, and it can be set up any way you want because it comes bare. Coming bare, also is a downfall. Think of all the rentals required!!! But as you can see above – it’s all my dreams come true. And I don’t even dream about my wedding.
Price: Space rental I don’t know, but everything else rental… Let’s give it $$$.
Location: Love it, and it’s got parking.
Overall Rating so far: even with the table and chair rentals, I’ll give it 8.5/10
Any advice and feedback is always appreciated.
