Wedding Dress Shopping: Keeping the Experience Seamless.

The process of selecting a wedding dress is often cited as the most challenging and stressful part of wedding planning. Despite the fact that most of us have given more than a little thought to the dress, nothing can prepare you for the real thing. With an overwhelming volume of silhouettes, fabrics, styles and price points, brides can quickly find themselves in over their heads. (And let’s not even get started on the myriad personalities and opinions that will be flying your way!)Take a deep breath and remember, you don’t have to do what is 'expected' of you and you don’t have to follow a specific style guide or antiquated expectations. This is your day so give yourself the freedom to be inspired, be surprised, and most importantly, be present throughout this amazing experience.With the help of Toronto-based boutique wedding dress shop, Loversland, here are some quick tips on how to make finding your perfect wedding dress one of your most treasured memories of the wedding planning process.

It takes a village. Or does it?

Be honest, what type of shopper are you? Do you enjoy taking your time, making snap decisions, or rely on input from others? Do multiple opinions make you flustered? For your very first outing, you might want to consider bringing just one person who knows you and your style really well. Then again, some brides feel more comfortable with their entire party present when wedding dress shopping. If you aren’t sure and you feel as though you might be walking into a wedding dress minefield, try narrowing your group down to two to three people whose opinions matter most to you.Next, think about timing. If you generally need a lot of time to consider large purchases, start shopping early. And although it might be tempting, don’t set a budget until you have completed your first appointment.

What the experts suggest.

Every bride should allow six to seven months to have her dress ordered, according to Loversland. But some consultants recommend as early as nine months. Why? Depending on what you buy, you might need to allow enough time for the dress to be made, shipped, or altered. So give yourself plenty of leeway and avoid rush fees.

THE FUN STUFF.

Now let’s move on to the fun stuff and talk about style! Ask yourself, what do I love about my body? What do I want to show off? (A note about sizing: don't be alarmed. Bridal sizing typically runs about two sizes larger than your regular size. As horrifying as it is, this is NORMAL. If it makes you feel any better, remember that the only person who will know that little number is you, and your trusted consultant.)

When looking for inspiration, you’ve no doubt already considered your venue and overall style of your wedding. But what about you? Your dress should be reflective of your personal style, no matter where or when you get married. Take to Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and of course all the wedding blogs you can find. But it’s not all about the online world. Think about your beloved romantic movie collection, your favourite love stories, most amazing destinations, and even memorable experiences that have moved you -- anything can serve as inspiration if you want it to. Write it down, clip it, pin it, and post it.

Expert Hint: As you are going through this process, look for commonalities in silhouettes, fabrics, and detailing to help establish your overall “vibe”, and then bring these ideas to your appointments.

What to wear under there.

For best results, bring nude undergarments (which you have of course tried on beforehand) and bring multiple options: strapless, push-up, thong, you never know what you might need.

Accessorizing.

Next, wear your hair in the way you’re thinking you might have it on your wedding day. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but if you’re considering an up-do, have those hair elastics and bobby pins ready. Same goes for makeup and shoes.

FINAL TIPS.

Lastly, and we can’t stress this enough: throw out the style 'rule book' and trust your instincts. If you want to wear a tulle embroidered ball gown, DO IT, this is your wedding! Still stuck? Call the ladies at Loversland and they will be happy to answer your all of your questions about a wedding dress shopping.

How to Create a Wedding Budget

The most popular question I hear from clients is how to create a wedding budget. It’s likely they have never had control over such a large sum of money at once in their lives. Creating a wedding budget can seem overwhelming, but if you take your time and think through it logically, you’ll feel much more relaxed and prepared. In today’s post, I’m sharing my tips for how to create a wedding budget so can feel confident in throwing an amazing celebrating without feeling like you’ve broken the bank.

Family Meeting

First, sit down with your families to discuss what financial assistance they are willing to put forward. Will each set of parents be contributing a specific dollar amount? Will they also be covering the cost of the dress? Do they have rules as to how their contribution is spent?

Save, Save, Save

Next, be brutally honest with how much can you realistically save for the wedding over the planning period. Long engagements can get a bad rap, but remember, the longer you are engaged, the more you will be able to save. So if you decide that May is your month, consider waiting until May the following year. This will not only give you more time to save but also time to enjoy your engagement and really consider your options.

Set Your Priorities

Now that you have determined the dollar amount you have to work with for the wedding, it’s time to make a priority list of which elements are most important to you. Also, consider the elements you can live without and ask yourselves, ‘Will anyone notice if we don’t do this?’. The answer for most things is probably ‘no’ and these can make up your Wish List. Stick to your list of most important things and consider adding those Wish List items back in if you have room in the budget once the big things are settled.

Breaking Down your Budget

Once you have finished prioritizing each wedding element, you’ll need to start assigning them percentages of your overall budget. The largest part of your budget (around 50%) should be assigned to your venue, catering and alcohol. Photography and florals should be set around 8 - 10% each. Stationery and other decorations (candles, linens, chair rentals) should sit somewhere around 4 to 5% and your DJ should be around 3%. Keep in mind that depending on your budget, these percentages may need to increase to be in line with the going rate for each category. I also recommend setting a percentage aside for miscellaneous things that sneak up so you can use it for a little flex if you do need to go over in a couple of areas!

Sneaky Ways Pricing Creeps Up

• Guest List. It can be difficult to decide who should be there to celebrate with you, but this is the largest driving point of your budget. The lower the guest count, the further your money will go.

• Postage. Forgetting to account for postage in your stationery budget. To send a standard size envelope in Canada, it is currently $2 per invitation set ($1 for the invitation, $1 for the RSVP). Adding too many pieces or doing an oversized dimension can also increase the cost of your postage. It might not seem like much, but it can quickly eat into your miscellaneous pot!

• Credit Card Fees. Do you plan to pay for everything on credit cards to get your points or just to make paying for the wedding a little easier? Most vendors pass the credit card fees on to the customer so you could easily be paying 3% extra on every bill if you plan to pay by card! And, of course, if you don’t pay it off each month, you’re also paying interest!

• Gratuities. Though your venue or caterer will almost always add an 18-20% gratuity to their final invoice, other vendors who expect or require tips (limo drivers usually at 20% each) don’t, so you’ll want to be sure you’re putting the money aside. And just because a vendor doesn’t require or expect a tip, if you feel like they’ve gone above and beyond, it’s nice to recognize them with a tip or small token of your appreciation.

• Committing to a large number from the start. Many venues have a guaranteed guest count based on the number you provide them with from the get-go. If you are unsure of your guest count, be conservative with the number you give to the venue/caterer so you don’t get stuck paying for 130 guests if your final numbers end up at 110.

Hire a Planner

You might think that hiring a wedding planner is a luxury. Sure, it can be a big investment, but you do gain the expertise of someone guiding you on how to create a wedding budget, which will ensure you get the most out of your money! Most planners also offer more cost-effective solutions for clients who only need help with certain areas, such as the final details. The most commonly sought service is the Month-of Coordination service which is a great investment for the couple who can handle most of the planning on their own. For my Month-of Coordination clients, I want to maximize the support they receive from me without adding much to the cost so I provide my clients with online planning toolkit with worksheets including a full budget manager and calculator, wedding day itinerary, a guest list manager, ceremony details, an overview worksheet to house all vendor and wedding party contact details, and folder to upload their service agreements, and a space for notes and other important details. They receive this right from the moment they sign on so they don’t have to worry about filling all of this out for me when we get started the month before the wedding. I also offer vendor referrals to my clients regardless of the planning package they have secured, so they can get access to vendors who have the perfect aesthetic and price for their event. Perhaps they had a specific photographer in mind but can’t afford. It’s likely I’ll know someone in a similar aesthetic who is more suited to their budget. They just do the work with connecting with them and continuing the conversation and I’ll pick up at the one-month mark! It’s my way of helping them feel they have personalized support. I hope you feel empowered with this guide on how to create a wedding budget!

How to Order a Wedding Cake | The Dessert Room

The Dessert Room, a Hamilton wedding cake shop and bakery, opened its doors this past spring. I sat down with owner Marcia to get the low down on how to order a wedding cakeMarcia says that the most common question she receives is, "how much does a three-tiered wedding cake cost?". It seems like an innocent question, but like many wedding cake designers, The Dessert Room's wedding cakes are custom for each client so a consultation is required in order to properly estimate.What exactly is the kind of information you need to price out your wedding cake? Well, the simple answer is that the more information you can provide, the better.

The Number of Servings

Knowing your guest count and whether it is being served as the dessert course or late-night option is key. Serving as the dessert course means more servings are required as you'll be serving 100% of your guests. For late-night, we recommend that you account for 50 - 60% of your guest count having a slice.

Inspiration Images 

Since designing a wedding cake contributes to the aesthetic of the event, it's is best to come with inspiration images. These images can be of other cakes or design-related elements such as stationery, florals and colour palette. One sensitive area is coming in with a specific image and wanting to replicate the design exactly. It's always so much more special when something is customized to you, so be open-minded in discussing revisions to a cake design to make it unique to you. The best part, in the end, is that it usually turns out better the original!

Budget and Details

Wedding cakes from The Dessert Room are 100% made from scratch so they are hand-made just for you. Regardless of where you go, before you make your meeting, figure out exactly how much of your budget you can allot to the cake. I typically tell my clients to set 1.5% of their wedding budget aside for the cake. Each wedding cake can take anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to complete depending on its complexity in design. If you are looking for hand made elements such as sugar flowers, scrolling and painting, expect the costs to increase.Since the cake will be 100% customized to you, having full trust in your cake designer is key. Sketches can be drawn to give a general idea as to how the cake will look, but the final product should surprise you a little!If you're looking for how to order a wedding cake and saving a few dollars, do a smaller wedding cake for display, but have slab cakes prepared for the kitchen to quickly slice and plate for dinner or late night. You can also do a smaller cake for late night only with and display with a few beautifully decorated cupcakes. Lastly, add a few strategically placed fresh flowers on the cake rather than the hand made elements!

The Process

Now that you have an idea of the information you need to collect, let's walk through the steps for how to order a wedding cake!

• Start with a consultation. You know how a dress shop would never want to put you into a dress you can't afford in case you fell in love? Well, your cake designer doesn't want to that either! Doing a consultation first is key because it gives you a chance to get to know each other and determine if their shop and pricing is right for you. Going into the tasting before discussing pricing tasting means you may fall in love with a flavour without being able to afford the cake.

• Estimation. Once you've chatted about your wedding and the specifics, the cake designer will prepare an estimate that is custom to you.

• Tasting. If the estimation looks good, you're then good to go for a tasting! It's recommended that you stick to trying 3 flavours rather than the whole lot.

• Order! Depending on the size of the cake it's normal to be able to select more than one flavour. If you are serving the wedding cake as the dessert course, Marcia recommends going with at least one flavour that is more of a crowd-pleaser so that the cake doesn't go to waste. Carrot or red velvet flavours don't tend to be an overwhelming favourite so you may want to do a smaller tier of that and the larger tier of something with a vanilla or chocolate base. Give yourself between 9 - 12 months lead time for high season weddings (May - October) and 6 - 9 months for offseason.

ABOUT THE DESSERT ROOM

During university, owner Marcia Fattouh, worked at a local bakery and fell in love with it. Once she completed university, she moved to Toronto, working at a French pastry shop while attending George Brown for the Baking and Pastry Arts program. She then spent time in France, completing two certificate programs at L'Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Patisserie. She returned to Toronto and completed the program at the Bonnie Gordon College and took the leap in opening up her own shop this past spring!

PHOTOGRAPHY

All photography was beautifully provided by the talented and generous Kayla Yestal, a fine art wedding photographer based in Guelph, but travels the world with her passion!

5 Things to Do After the Wedding

Congratulations! You're married! But, now what? 

Don't fret as I have a list of 5 things to do after the wedding so you can enjoy wedding planning just a little longer!First you should congratulate yourselves on successfully completing one of the biggest projects you will ever undertake as a couple! Open a good bottle of wine and slowly look through your wedding photos to reflect on your big day! Now you're ready to tackle the first 5 things to do after the wedding.

Christine Lim Photography

1. Share Photos with and Review Your Wedding Vendors

Speaking of photos, remember when you were looking for the right people to help bring your vision together? You probably used their portfolios of past weddings to decide if they fit your wedding vision. Then you probably found reviews from past clients or vendors and they were helpful in making your decision to inquire with them! Vendors rely heavily on these reviews and photos to stay up to date and show growth in our business and creativity. Were your vendors super wonderful? Did they go above and beyond for you? The best way to say thank you is to write a short review and share your photos with them so other engaged couples have something fresh to look through too. Bonus points for surprising them with a review and photos without them asking!

2. Send Your Thank You Notes

It's proper etiquette to have your thank you notes in the mail 8 weeks after the wedding. Yes, it seems like a long time, but believe me, that two months will fly by like you wouldn't believe, especially if you head away on a honeymoon for a few weeks! Why not bring a few cards with you on your honeymoon so you can write them while waiting to board or even during your flight? Or for a fun spin, buy postcards from your honeymoon destination and send those home as thank you cards! While it's nice to include a specific note about the gift received, the thank you note itself is most important and getting them done sooner rather than later will make you feel so much better and your guests feel super loved!

3. Clean Your Dress

Your wedding dress probably went to battle for you on your wedding day and withstood some less than desirable terrain to get those gorgeous wedding photos. Give it a little love back and promptly take it into the cleaner as it is easiest to remove stains when they are fresh. If you take it in right after the wedding, before you depart on honeymoon, it'll be one less thing to do when you get back! Oh, and I have more tips and tricks about professionally cleaning your wedding dress, right over here.

4. Order a Marriage Certificate

Immediately following the ceremony, your officiant will give you something called a Record of Solemnization of Marriage. This can be helpful if you're heading on honeymoon and need to show proof of marriage for that honeymoon package, however, it's not the official legal record of marriage. A Marriage Certificate is a legal proof you are married. Most likely you'll only use it for changing your last name with your bank and any other creditors, etc. but it is also helpful for certain social benefits and settling an estate. Note that before you can get a marriage certificate, your marriage needs to be registered. Your officiant will register the marriage by sending the completed marriage license documents to Service Ontario on your behalf. You won't receive notification that it has been registered so I recommend waiting three months before you request the marriage certificate.

5. Change Your Last Name

It is completely optional to change your last name after the wedding. If you choose to do so, Service Ontario can help you out. The most common option is to assume your spouse's last name. This would change on government documents such as your health card and driver's license. To change your SIN number and birth certificate you would have to legally change your last name. So! Hopefully, I've made it easy for you to start the first 5 things to do after the wedding so you can move onto the fun stuff! 

Before the Wedding, Ontario Marriage Requirements

Wedding season is here! Before you run off to get married, you will need to make sure you have met the Ontario marriage requirements and obtained your marriage licence!

Before you can get married, you'll need a marriage license, which can be obtained from any town across Ontario. In other words, it doesn't matter whether it's obtained in Ottawa and the wedding is in Toronto, you can get it from anywhere! A marriage license is valid for 90 days from the date it was issued so you will need to wait until you are within 3 months of the wedding before you apply.

STEP 1

Download the Marriage Licence Application form (PDF)

STEP 2

Collect two pieces of valid government-issued identification for you and your wife or husband-to-be.One piece of identification must include your photo.

• birth certificate (including any change of name certificates);

• passport;

• record of immigrant landing; Canadian Citizenship Card;

• driver's licence;

• or Ontario Photo Card.

STEP 3

Find a local city hall, town hall or municipal office.

STEP 4

Bring the completed application form, identification and payment to your local city hall, town hall or municipal office. The price for the marriage license will vary in each city/municipality so be sure to check with your l before heading out.

STEP 5

Bring your marriage license and all paperwork with you to be passed off to your officiant or wedding planner.

STEP 6 

After the ceremony, be sure to place the remaining paperwork from your officiant in a safe, secure place.

Tips for Creating a Wedding Day Timeline

You’ve worked steadily for months carefully crafting every detail of your wedding. Now it’s important to make sure that the logistical pieces of the day are perfectly planned, too. Today I’m sharing the top three areas to watch when creating a wedding day timeline.

Heidi Lau Photography

Transportation and Travel Time

Be realistic with exactly how long it could take you to travel between locations and actually over schedule your travel time. Worst case scenario, you get there faster than you anticipated and actually have a few moments to breathe, have a drink or a snack, and reflect on the wedding day so far! It could even be the difference of making a quick pit stop at an unexpected photo location.

Do a test run on a busy Saturday and pick one where there are a lot of things happening in and around the city that could cause potential delays. Be in the know of planned construction that is en route to the event and plan out alternate routes.

Photography

Ensure you have left room for both setup and pack up time for your photographer and videographer before and after each set of photos in addition to the time required to travel. It may not seem like much, 5 minutes to unpack and do test shots, and another 5 minutes to pack up at the end of the session is ultimately taking 10 minutes out.

When you’ve scheduled enough time for your photos, you’ll immediately feel more relaxed and actually look better in your photos. You’ll have time to get just the right shot and maybe even a few you hadn’t expected, rather than just the ones on the list!

Family and extended family photos are always crazy. Especially during cocktail hour. Aunt Jane has gone to the washroom, Uncle John has gotten caught up with a relative he hasn’t seen in years and is nowhere to be found. Be sure to have a thorough list of what photos you want to accomplish during this time and assign responsible family members to assist with rounding these folks up. Let them know ahead of time where they need to be and when. Perhaps even have an announcement made by your officiant at the end of the ceremony as another reminder. Your planner and photographer have never met Aunt Jane and Uncle John, so your photographer and planner will thank you when you have someone who knows the family helping to round them up!

Heidi Lau Photography

Dinner Service / Speeches

One of the areas in which the schedule is most unpredictable is during dinner service. A typical plated dinner service is around 2 to 2.5 hrs depending on the number of speeches and courses served but it’s not unusual for it to be running 30 to 45 minutes behind. I’ll let you in on a little secret, though. It’s rare that the catering staff are the reason for it running behind. In fact, they’re watching closely and timing their courses to ensure you are getting your meal exactly how they want it (and you expect it) to be served - hot and tasty! No one wants over-cooked chicken or well-done beef, but unfortunately, it’s a possibility if your speeches are running too long.

Keep the speeches to a minimum and be very clear with those giving speeches that they stick to a strict time limit.

Ask your venue if they have any requirements as to where speeches should or should not be scheduled during dinner service. Maybe they have restrictions on any speeches between the appetizer and main course to ensure the entrees are served hot and exactly as intended. Maybe they have strict rules not to clear or serve during speeches as it’s inevitably noisy and distracting no matter how quiet they try to be. It’s also often deemed disrespectful. Being in the know of these things well ahead of setting your evening schedule is key to success.

Over the last couple of years, I have been encouraging my clients to include the majority of their speeches during their rehearsal dinner. At the very least, the bride and groom should say a few words at the wedding to thank guests for taking time out of their busy lives to celebrate with them and to do a small toast to each other and their new life together. It’s also lovely for the parents to say something, but I highly suggest speeches during the wedding dinner reception are limited to these.

Lastly, the fewer speeches you have, the less you have to worry about chasing down the people who need to be present! Maybe this time mom has made a quick trip to the washroom but as soon as she gets back, dad has popped out to enjoy a cigar. It’s a fine dance getting all of these people to be in the same place at the same time as they tend to get restless the longer they sit around while dinner service drags out. 

Heidi Lau

Now go on out there and get started creating a wedding day timeline that will actually work FOR you and not against you!